Teens come to Fife man's aid after dog incident results in broken ankle

74-yr-old David Allan with Josh, Danial and Lee. Picture: Fife Photo Agency.

David Allan, who sustained a broken ankle from his ordeal, told the Gazette he could have been left stranded for hours had a group of teenagers not found him and helped him to get home.

The 74-year-old pensioner was walking his own dog on a footpath adjoining Boblingen Way close to Warout Stadium when he was knocked to the ground by another owner’s pet that was off its lead.

But instead of being helped up, Mr Allan claims the owner insinuated he was at fault before running off leaving him stranded.

“It was a large dog that was one of two mastiff-type dogs that their owners – a man and woman – had running off their leads,” explained Mr Allan.

“It knocked me clean off my feet but even though I was in obvious pain, the owner just stood over me saying that my dog shouldn’t have been allowed to bark at his.

“To say I was shocked is an understatement.

“I’ve walked dogs along there for over 20 years and never once had a problem. To suggest it was my dog Harvey that had caused the incident is ridiculous.”

Mr Allan is thankful the youngsters witnessed what had happened and were able to come to his assistance.

“It was very fortunate that the boys saw what happened and came to help me out, on another night or had it been dark I could have been left there for hours,” said Mr Allan.

He was full of gratitude and praise for the three Glenrothes teenagers, Josh Beveridge (13), Daniel Emslie (14) and Lee McEwan (14) who came to his rescue.

“Teenagers often come in for a criticism these days but they certainly need to praised for having helped me.I can’t express how grateful I am,” said Mr Allan.

The incident was reported to the police who are continuing to look into what happened.

Mr Allan was taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy where it was confirmed he had broken his left ankle.

He is now warning other dog owners to remain vigilant and had called upon the offending owners to keep control of their pets.

“These were big dogs that were running out of control, my main fear is that next time it could be a child that is knocked over, next time it could be a whole lot more serious,” he said.