Crossing guard hits dog with her stop sign to save 11-year-old girl from attack

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (KSTU) - A Utah crossing guard is being hailed as a hero after she stepped in to save an 11-year-old girl from a dog attack.

Crossing guard Ruta Pataialii is known to kids in West Valley City as the person who wears a safety vest and gets them safely to and from school. But for the Fuette family, she’s become so much more than that – she’s a hero.

The family says 11-year-old Alexis Fuette was walking to school last Monday when a pit bull in a fenced yard jumped over the fence and bit her arm.

“It was scary, but at the same time, I was just shocked,” Alexis said.

Hearing the dog, Pataialii rushed over to help.

“I just ran over and picked up my stop sign and hit the dog’s head,” she said.

After a brief struggle, she was able to pry the dog away from Alexis, who suffered only minor injuries.

Still, Alexis’ mother, Tawnya Fuette, can’t help but think about how much worse the situation could have turned out if not for Pataialii. She is grateful the crossing guard was there to help.

“There are so many what ifs that could have happened. What if it got her face? Her life would’ve never been the same. Our life wouldn’t have been the same,” Fuette said.

Pataialii herself says the decision to step in wasn’t hard.

“If that was my granddaughter, I would have done the same thing,” she said. “When your kids come out, we’re their parents, and when they come home, they’re yours.”

It’s all proof that heroes don’t just wear capes; they wear safety vests too.

“I appreciate them. More people should because they put their lives at risk for somebody else’s kids, and people should be more aware of it,” Fuette said.

Pataialii moved to Utah to work as a seamstress. Before that, she lived in American Samoa and California.