Two strangers armed only with a six-pack of beer have been hailed as heroes for stopping a dog that was savaging an elderly woman outside a home at Sans Souci.
Irene Koutsounadis, 90, is now in a serious but stable condition in St George Hospital having undergone surgery for injuries to her head after she was attacked by her daughter's American pit bull terrier in the front yard of the Sans Souci house about 7pm on Friday.
Her daughter, well-known multiculturalism and refugee advocate Vivi Germanos-Koutsounadis, 70, who lives at the Evans Street home, suffered serious injuries to her hands as she tried to pull her dog, Caesar, off her mother.
Neighbours said the dog had a "vice-like grip" on Mrs Koutsounadis and only released the woman after two strangers - Justin Innes and his son Jacob - who just happened to be walking past carrying six bottles of Victoria Bitter on their way to a Good Friday family dinner, came to the women's aid.
"We thought the screaming was a fight or something so we did a light jog around the corner and there was a dog basically chewing a lady's face off. I've never seen so much blood," Justin Innes said.
"I gave my son the six-pack I was carrying and told him to stay back but the dog was going crazy. I was hitting it but I had nothing, so I told my son to give me a beer and I hit it with that.
"Then he came and hit it with the rest of the six-pack."
Justin Innes said the dog then turned on his son, and then himself, before they were able to wrestle it inside and lock it in the house.