AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re hearing from Justin Gilstrap’s cousin, another 11-year-old boy who made the 911 call during the dog attack in Columbia County.

When Mason Aguilar was playing soccer with his cousin, he had no idea that he would make a call that saved Gilstrap’s life.

911 Call

“Columbia County 911, what’s your emergency?”

“Please, please hurry. My cousin’s getting attacked by a dog.”

Aguilar scrambled to the phone to get help for his cousin as quickly as possible, but Gilstrap is more than a cousin to him. He’s his best friend.

“We’re buddy-buddy. He’s next to me, everything I do he’s next to me,” said Aguilar.

On Friday before the attack, they were looking to get permission to have a sleepover Friday night.

“My cousin gives me a hug and says ‘let me know what they say. Be careful. I love you,’ and we started heading out,” he said.

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The sleepover never happened.

“We hear screaming ‘Help! Help! Help!’ We ride down and see my cousin sitting there in the ditch with three dogs on top of him, saying, ‘Mason help! Mason help’,” he said.

Crying for help, but those that know Gilstrap say he’s a fighter.

“He’s tough as nails,” said Aguilar.

Surgery after surgery, Gilstrap was able to give an optimistic update.

“Hey, everybody. I love y’all. I just want you to know, I’m OK.”

Even with the hope that he’ll make it through, Aguilar still misses his best friend.

“Every day I go outside, and I call his name out, and I forget he’s in the hospital fighting for his life, and I just break down,” said Aguilar.

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