Five-year-old John Bruno’s family was reportedly inside their home in the Palomino Farms development at the time. John was outside, playing in the snow in the yard with the Family Dog. The family suddenly looked out the window to see the child lying unresponsive on the ground in the snowy yard. They could see the hound mix dog next to the boy, apparently tugging at his scarf. According to a report by Fox News, the family immediately called emergency services and when paramedics arrived on the scene, they found the mother had untied the scarf from around the boy’s neck, but the child was still unresponsive.
They immediately began CPR and then moved the John to the hospital in Doylestown.
The five-year-old boy Pennsylvania boy was later transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was kept under sedation. However, John reportedly passed away from his injuries on Saturday.
Five-year-old boy’s death was deemed accidental
According to investigators, they believe the one-year-old dog had pulled the child’s scarf too tightly around his neck. According to James Garrow of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office, their preliminary findings are that the five-year-old boy’s death by ligature strangulation was a tragic accident. Warrington Police Chief Daniel Friel said it was a very “unusual incident” involving the family dog and appears to be accidental and that police continue to work with the medical examiner’s office.
GoFundMe page to cover five-year-old boy’s medical and funeral expenses
As reported by NBC News, a friend or family member set up a GoFundMe page in an attempt to cover the five-year-old boy’s medical and funeral expenses and to ease their burden in this difficult time. That page has, at the time of writing, received donations of $28,580, far more than the initial goal of $5,000.
The description on that page described the little boy as always smiling and having boundless energy. According to his family, the boy loved superheroes, Pokémon, Ninja Turtles and being just plain silly. It also said how much little John had loved his parents and his big sister.
