COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus family is doing everything they can to support their eight-year-old boy as he recovers from a brutal dog attack.

The boy is Oscar Koon, and he’s soon to be nine years old and has a younger sister. Loved ones say they have their moments like most siblings, but Oscar is a great big brother.

“They have a really, really sweet relationship and love each other very much, and she’s been talking about him non-stop, can’t wait to see him,” said Rebecca Hook Katona, Oscar’s aunt.

The kids were playing outside earlier this month in their North Linden neighborhood when two dogs from another house attacked Oscar.

“He loves animals, and I think that’s been something that’s just made this situation even harder is to think that his love for animals could be jeopardized in any way,” Hook Katona said.

Police shot both dogs, and an officer rushed Oscar to the hospital. At the time, he was in “extremely critical condition.” Hook Katona said the eight-year-old has traumatic injuries to his face. She also said he is still heavily sedated.

Her sister and brother-in-law, Oscar’s parents, have been playing his favorite playlist in the ICU room at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

“The way they live their lives is so altruistic, and they genuinely just live to serve other people and people around them, no one, no one deserves to have this happen to them, but they deserve it least of all,” Hook Katona said. 

She said the plan is to decorate the hospital room with cards and messages of support that have been received. Messages can be shared with Oscar and his family through the hospital’s website. The family has also set up a CaringBridge which includes ways to support Oscar’s family.

“Neighbors, community members, everybody at the hospital has been amazing. The officer who made just a lifesaving decision to put Oscar in his cruiser and take him to the hospital, all of these people are the reason he is going to live and he’s going to thrive. It’s just going to be really different,” Hook Katona said.

Oscar has shown some positive signs recently, and the family is hopeful for more, according to Hook Katona. She said they’re also hoping to be able to communicate with him through touch in the coming days.

“He’s so beautiful and I think that he is going to thrive, we really believe that, he just has like such a light in his spirit, it’s infectious and people want to be around him, kids and adults want to be around him and nothing about this can change that,” she said. 

The owner of the dogs will face several charges, including failure to confine a previously designated dangerous dog, according to the Columbus City Attorney’s Office. Franklin County Animal Care and Control told NBC4 that because the investigation into the March 2 attack is still going on, charges have not been filed yet.

Records show this is not the first incident involving the owner of the dogs. Criminal charges were filed against him for a dog bite in 2024, according to animal control. Animal control said that the incident involved a different dog than the ones from the recent attack.

The family has started a GoFundMe to help with Oscar’s recovery. Click here for more information.