It was at the end of May that it happened.
Josefine Almér’s ten-year-old daughter Awa was out for a walk with her friend along a hiking trail south of Kalmar. The trail continued through a paddock where there were horses. A horse approached Awa and her friend.
Then it hit.
– Just when they were going to pass by there, it just said smack on the cheek. On her right cheek, she has a horse bite that extends from her hairline to her jawbone. It was a big wound, says mother Josefine Almér.
Called home myself
P4 Kalmar was the first to report the incident. For TV4 Nyheterna, mother Josefine tells that her daughter called home completely terrified after the attack.
– She was extremely shocked. We went home to my partner and little brother, who were completely distraught when they saw her, because there was a big wound all over her right side. We took a wet towel and rushed to the hospital, she says.
The feeling has disappeared
Awa was sedated and had to have stitches in her cheek. Now, a month after it happened, the sensation is gone and she is swollen.
– Fortunately, it was only soft parts. They tried to sew her up with local anesthesia, but it didn’t work because it was too broken, it was broken in the cheek. They first had to sew with three stitches inside the cheek and then seven stitches outside the cheek, says Josefine.
Now Josefine wants to see stricter rules for which animals are allowed to graze along hiking trails.
– I don’t think any animals should be on a hiking trail. I understand it’s own responsibility, absolutely, I buy it to a certain extent. But the explanation I have received is that these horses are not pets but for pure breeding. Then I think it would be wrong to put such horses in such a paddock where they may not be fully used to people. It could have gone much worse, she says.
The municipality’s response
P4 Kalmar have been in contact with the horse owner who says there have been no problems before and fencing the trail would make no difference. The municipality’s outdoor developer, Eva-Lena Larsdotter, tells the radio that it’s about personal responsibility.
– It’s still always your own responsibility when you enter a paddock, that’s how it is. It is very sad that this kind of thing happens, she says.