Florissant, Missouri, Mayor Tim Lowery, right, and Councilman Robert Parson, Jr., left, presented the Carnegie Medal to Florissant resident Robyn Handley on Sept. 9 at the Florissant City Hall.
Handley was awarded the medal in March 2024 after she rescued two women from attacking dogs in their neighborhood of Florissant on December 22, 2020.
“First of all, congratulations on your award,” Lowery said during the ceremony at a Florissant City Council meeting. “But more importantly, thank you for what you did.”
A 72-year-old woman was out for a walk when four pit bull dogs attacked her on a sidewalk, knocked her to the ground, and mauled her, biting different parts of her body and tearing off part of her scalp. As the dogs continued their assault, Handley, 64, who suffered from arthritis, heard the woman’s screams from her house and ran barefoot about 150 feet down the street to help. Handley shouted and waved her arms at the dogs, putting herself between the woman and the dogs, shielding her. As the dogs retreated but did not flee the scene, she stood guard over the woman and shouted for help. A 67-year-old woman approached the scene from the opposite direction and the dogs attacked her. They knocked her to the ground and bit her legs. Handley then moved to protect the second woman and, again, waved her arms and shouted to drive the dogs away.
Following the attack, another neighbor loaded the badly injured first woman into his car to await police while the dogs ran off and attacked others in a nearby neighborhood. The first woman suffered extensive wounds to her scalp, severe damage to her eye and face, and a deep leg wound. She underwent multiple surgeries and continued to recover. The second woman was also treated for bite wounds to her legs. Handley was not injured.
Handley wiped away tears as she accepted the award.
“You showed extreme courage,” Councilman Robert Parson, Jr., said. “Sometimes showing courage means moving forward and trying to stop an event even though you may be afraid.”
