At first, John Gergle didn't know what hit him.
"I thought I got run over by a car," Gergle, 82, said, of being attacked by a pit bull in Cornwall the morning of June 16.
Now, sometimes he can't get the vision of the pit bull on his arm out of his mind.
"I could see my bone, and his teeth around it," Gergle said.
John Gergle Jr., who was attacked by a pit bull, and his wife, Frances.
That morning he left his Palmyra home early for his annual appointment at the Lebanon VA Medical Center, planning to visit his old friends and Minersvillage neighborhood in Cornwall.
He swung by the Blue Bird restaurant, and had no sooner pulled into the neighboring development than he saw someone he knew waving to him from a nearby home.
He and his acquaintance, Matthew Karinch, began walking toward each other.
"The next thing I knew out of nowhere I was lying on the ground and I had this dog on my arm and (it) wouldn't let go," Gergle said.
The dog bit him in the upper arm, near his shoulder. He shielded his head with his other hand.
"I pushed him off my shoulder. I don't know if that was a good idea because that's when he got ahold of my arm," Gergle said. "I don't know how many times he chawed on me."
The dog started dragging him down the driveway, he said. That's when he heard his leg break. He later learned his pelvis was also broken.
"After that I don't know much of anything," Gergle said.
Cornwall police on July 4 said they've charged the dog's owner, Matthew Karinch, 43, of the 100 block of Cornwall Hills Drive, with harboring a dangerous dog and failing to confine his dog, which are both summary charges.
Karinch was contacted for this story at the latest phone number on record for him. "He's not interested in talking to anybody," said a man who answered the phone.
Gergle recalls hearing the owner say at some point that the dog never did this before, and that he couldn't hold him back. He's not sure, but thinks the dog was on a leash and pulled so hard that the owner fell and let go.
A woman came to his assistance, and Gergle said he'd like to find out who she is so he can thank her. He once worked in the medical department at the Bethlehem Steel, and told her to bring peroxide, water and paper towels. He was bleeding profusely — he was on blood thinners from having stents put in his heart three months ago — and knew they needed to apply pressure.
He was in Good Samaritan Hospital for four days, and doctors operated to put his femur back together with a plate and screws. Then he was in a rehab facility for eight more days.
"That sucker hurt," Gergle said of his leg. "For 10 days I was in agony."
His arm wounds don't have stitches. "There's no way they could have stitched it up," said his wife, Frances.
A visiting nurse and physical therapist come to his Palmyra apartment, and he'll eventually have outpatient physical therapy. His healing is going well so far, without any infections.
But at 82, the recovery is going to a tough one. Gergle said he knows he'll have to work hard in physical therapy, but added, "I've been active all my life."
Gergle, a former Lebanon Valley College baseball coach, was still involved in helping to coach baseball and pitching in the area at the time of the attack. He coached LVC 1990-2000, including the 1993 national championship team. He played baseball at Lebanon High School and in the Navy, and was on east and west coast all-star teams. After his years in the service he settled in Minersvillage in Cornwall.
Yes, the dog bites are on his pitching arm, Gergle said. "Those days are gone a long time ago," he joked of his pitching years.
"I try to keep a good outlook," he said. He also likes to go fishing and helps in his wife's garden.
"He's coming along really well," Frances added.
Gergle emphasized he is not mad at the owner of the dog, who visited him in the hospital.
"I have no animosity toward those people, or their dog," he said of the owner and his father. "They're sorry and I accept their apology."
Gergle said he knows people get attached to their dogs, and that this dog had apparently never done this before. "Well, he did it one too many times," he added.
Still, he stopped short of saying the dog should be put down. "It's his pet, and it's hard to do. That's his decision," Gergle said.
But he added, "It's just something that happened, and it's going to happen again. That's my opinion."
Cornwall Police Chief Bruce Harris confirmed Gergle's account of the attack. Harris said he believes the owner had it on a leash, but somehow it got away from him and attacked Gergle. He said he doesn't know of any other attacks by this dog.
The owner still has the dog, and Harris said it was under quarantine for 10 days to ensure there was no issue with rabies. The dog had been vaccinated, he said.
The district judge will determine whether the dog should be categorized as a dangerous dog, based on the charges filed by police. If it is, there are other requirements that the owner will face, such as taking out a $50,000 liability bond, posting the fact that a dangerous dog is in the home, and more.
Harris said he has been contacted by some of Karinch's neighbors who are concerned about the dog, and he informed them of the steps police have taken. "At this point we are waiting for it to make its way through the system."
Asked if he thinks the dog should be euthanized, Harris said, "That's not my decision to make. We filed the charges we felt were appropriate."