A 23-year-old student in Norrköping, Ewelina Svenson, suffered a brutal dog attack during a graduation celebration in June 2024, resulting in severe facial injuries. Police dropped the investigation quickly due to lack of evidence of the owner's negligence, and now she is pursuing the case privately through a lawsuit. Her friend Mimmi Björk has supported her throughout the process.
It was a June evening in Norrköping in 2024 when Ewelina Svenson, 23, and her friend Mimmi Björk, 21, were celebrating graduation. On their way home, they encountered a man with a dog they had met earlier that evening. Ewelina bent down to greet the leashed dog named Balto. Suddenly, the dog growled, and the owner said: 'Balto, be nice'. Almost immediately, the dog bit Ewelina in the face, causing severe injuries.
Mimmi saw the blood running down Ewelina's hands and called 112. A nearby resident arrived with a first-aid kit. At the hospital in Linköping, Ewelina underwent emergency surgery where surgeons cut away dead tissue without anesthesia due to time constraints. 'It was brutal to see', says Mimmi, who became nauseous and had to leave the room.
After the surgery, Ewelina survived on a liquid diet for several days and was on sick leave for nearly a month. She now has permanent issues, such as reduced sensation in her lower lip, leaking fluids when drinking, and slurred speech during long conversations. 'It feels tight all the time, as if the skin doesn't quite reach', she describes.
Police interviewed Ewelina only once at the hospital while she was on morphine and in shock. The investigation was dropped after three days because it could not prove the owner's negligence. The owner also lacked insurance, complicating the compensation process. Ewelina has navigated the bureaucracy herself, even using ChatGPT for legal advice. 'It says something about how alone one is in the process', she says.
With Mimmi's support, who has called around and questioned authorities, an oral preparation in district court now awaits. For Ewelina, it's not primarily about money but accountability. 'You can't be angry at a dog. But you can be critical of how everything around it has been handled', she states.
