Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013 | 10:00 PM
Karson Dieter, 10, of Visalia is a hero on his block and at Oak Grove Elementary School where he's a sixth-grader.
Last week, the Visalia Unified school board recognized the Boy Scout for quick thinking and bravery.
For Karson, who is autistic and sometimes suffers from low self-esteem, it's a special honor.
When a neighbor was under attack by a pit bull dog, Karson didn't hesitate. He later told his mother, Cheryl Dieter, "I couldn't live with myself if the dog killed her and she died. I needed to do something."
About two weeks ago, Karson was playing outdoors with friends when Emojean McDonald, 80, walked by on her way to the neighborhood mail delivery boxes.
Suddenly, a pit bull terrier attacked her.
"The dog came up behind me and grabbed my arm," McDonald said. She fell to the ground as the dog mauled her right forearm. "I was yelling, 'Somebody help me!' "
Karson went into action. He grabbed a stick to throw in hopes that the dog would run to fetch it.
The ploy worked. The dog let go of McDonald, then bit Karson on his upper left arm before running away.
Playmates Mollie and Claire Collins, sisters who like Karson are in the sixth grade, ran to his home and told his mother what had happened. She told the girls to call 911 and went to help McDonald.
"She was bleeding terribly," Cheryl Dieter said.
She told the girls to go upstairs and get bandages, which they did, and Dieter did her best to stop the bleeding until help arrived. McDonald ended up with several stitches.
Oak Grove Principal John Davis heard about Karson's heroism.
"He's a good kid, a smart kid," Davis said. "The kids think of him as a hero."
The school gave him a certificate and the school mascot award.
When Superintendent Craig Wheaton heard about it, he invited Karson to the school board meeting.
Karson said he was just being a Boy Scout.
"It's good to do something to help someone else," he said. As for getting recognized, "it felt great," he said.
But no one realized Karson had been bitten until his 8-year-old sister saw him bleeding and put a bandage on him.
"He didn't say a word," Cheryl Dieter said. "I took him to urgent care."
Animal control officers were called out and impounded two pit bull dogs that had gotten out of a yard. They were declared vicious dogs and will be put down, animal control manager Justin Helt said.
The owners of the dogs apologized to McDonald.
