A delivery worker has been left “terrified” of dogs after her finger was torn off as she put a note through a letter box.
Aimee, who does want to disclose her surname, was posting a parcel collection card when the dog savaged her right hand.
The tip of her middle finger was severed and, despite surgeons best attempts, it cannot be reattached.
The horrified worker was forced to wait in an ambulance until the homeowner returned to retrieve her finger from inside.
Aimee, from Welling, southeast London, said: “I didn’t even put my hand in the letter box, I went to post the card and the dog caught the tip of my finger and pulled my hand, and it took another bite, and another bite.
“When I pulled my hand out I was missing the tip of my finger and it had split down the middle - the inside was exposed.
“I didn’t scream or cry. I just pulled out my hand and stumbled into the road.
“I started shouting: ‘Help me, help me’.
“It was so painful. I have never felt anything that painful in my whole life.”
A passerby called for an ambulance and she was given gas and air until the dog owner returned following the incident on May 9.
She said: “The homeowner came back home when I was in the ambulance. They came home to find my finger on the floor inside the house.
“A paramedic went in and retrieved it.”
She was rushed to the trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, before she was transferred to a specialist team at St Thomas’ in Waterloo.
Sadly the finger was too badly damaged to be reattached.
The part time delivery worker and book-keeper received eleven stitches to help her stump heal.
It is not known when the 32 year old, who is right handed, will be able to return to work.
She is calling for dog owners to make sure postal workers and delivery drivers are protected from dog attacks.
Aimee said the dog “did not make a sound” when she approached the door.
A ‘beware of the dog’ sign or letter box cage could have prevented the mixed breed or a mastiff-type dog from biting her, she added.
“It’s all about protection,” she said. “A sign that tells workers a dog is in the house would be helpful, or a cage around the letterbox to collect the post.”
She added: “I loved dogs . I did before this happened - now I’m terrified of them.
“Any customers if they had a dog I had no problem. They are generally quite friendly.
“I still have no feeling down one side of my finger and am still unable to bend the knuckle I do have left.
“I have got to have hand therapy, they were also talking about a prosthetic that goes on the top.
“I’m quite traumatised by sticking my hand anywhere, knocking on a door or going near a letterbox frightens the life out of me.”
She has also asked her bosses to consider providing workers with post clips, which postal workers use to prevent similar attacks.