A young hero has suffered serious injuries after saving the life of a mother and six-day-old baby - from an attack by three dogs.

William Newbury, 22, stepped in to save his friend and her newborn from the Staffordshire Bull Terriers. The security worker from Cardiff was left needing counselling and severe injuries across his body, multiple stitches, surgeries and "some wicked scars" He's also lost functioning in part his hand.

William said: "The baby would gave been 100 per cent dead, and the mum would have followed after - I couldn't have let that happen. I do feel good, I'm just happy they are both OK."

The traumatic accident occurred on Mother's Day when he and his girlfriend, Jamie-Lee Davis decided to drop off some baby presents to their friend in Llanrumney, Cardiff. However, upon arriving, the couple recalled hearing screaming - which they thought initially was children playing in the garden.

William said: "When we saw our friend's neighbour come out of their house and go up to the door of the property where my friend was, we thought it was all a bit strange." William looked through the letterbox and saw the "nightmare": that was his friend and her six-day-old baby on the floor with three dogs attacking them.

William explained: "There was one dog biting her foot, another biting her hand and another was trying to get over her stomach to get to the baby. I started banging on the door and shouting through the letterbox - trying to get their attention.

"One of the dog's noticed me and started barking, but that made the other two get more aggressive towards my friend.Even though it was awful, it was good I got that dog's attention, because if it had gotten over to the baby, I don't want to think about what would have happened."

The front door was locked or broken, said William, so he was unable to get in the property. He said: "I have experienced some nasty things from working in security, but this was pretty horrific. All we could do was listen to her screams." After calling his friend's partner, who was out of the house with his family, someone had mentioned one of the window's was unlocked.

William said: "Normally I am the type of person to think about stuff first, but as soon as someone said a window was unlocked, without thinking, I ragged the window open and went through the window.

"My girlfriend wanted to come too, but I wouldn't let her. So I managed to pick my friend up inside, as she couldn't stand and was loosing consciousness - with gaping holes in her feet. We managed to put the baby in a pram, and my girlfriend lent through window, got the baby out safe and passed them to the neighbour."

After some extreme difficulty, William managed to lift his friend over a baby gate - despite one of the dogs with a "locked jaw" on their jumper. He got his friend out of the window, but as one of the dogs was trying to follow them out, William screamed for the window to be shut.

"I remember screaming 'shut the window!', but it meant I was locked in the house with the dogs", said William.

For the next 20 minutes, the young man had to try and fight off three unrelenting Staffordshire Bull Terriers. They attacked him on his hands, arms, legs, stomach and jumped at his face and neck. William's girlfriend was forced to watch the harrowing event through the living room doors.

He said: "There was one point when I literally thought I was going to die.'' William's girlfriend, Jamie-Lee, then came in and grabbed one of the dogs - and before it could attack her the dogs' owners arrived at the house.

William was taken away in an ambulance, and spent the next eight days recovering in Heath hospital - where he had to undergo various surgeries and around 20 stitches. Doctors informed him he will be off work for around 14 weeks.

He said: "My finger still feels like it's going to fall off! It's permanently broken for the rest of my life. But they got me all over my body - I had to have 15 stitches alone on my right hand. More stitches on my left arm, gashes on my leg, stomach, lower back, my neck, jaw and check. Luckily my beard covers some of it!"

Since having counselling, William has been left skeptical of dogs - but not fearful. He explained: "I refuse to be scared of them. We have always had dogs in the family - there has never not been a dog in my house. So I am now cautious and tread carefully but it is about how you bring dogs up. My accident was the fifth attack so far involving those dogs - apparently they weren't fed for two days either.

"Social services even had a plan in place for them, meaning they usually had to be in their cages if left alone - but they weren't in their cages that day."

If William had not intervened, he said his friend's baby would have died, and potentially his friend too. He added: "The baby would have been 100 per cent dead, and the Mum would have followed after. When being interviewed by the police, my own mum said 'I would have had a standing chance if I had been jumped by three men, but not those dogs. It took dog handlers between two and four hours to get them after the attack."

The baby's family have set up a fundraiser to help William cover some of his loss of earnings, medical fees and everything that was destroyed in the attack, like his £400 car key and phone.

South Wales Police are investigating the incident and no arrests have yet been made. The woman and mother of the baby who William saved, who does not wish to be named, said: "I'm struggling with day-to-day tasks, as I can't walk and I'm awaiting my fourth surgery. William is mine and my baby's true hero, I can't thank him enough. I thought I was going to die."

You can donate to the fundraiser by clicking here.