Rob Jerry was taking his dog Sadie out for a walk on St. Patrick’s Day morning when she started acting strangely. She stood still, refusing to move when he called, and stared down the driveway.
“I heard something, but I thought it sounded more like a deer grunt. And I thought that’s what she was just sitting there looking at. And then I listened for a couple seconds and I could hear that it wasn’t a grunt it was a ‘help,’” said Jerry.
Jerry then saw his 89-year-old neighbor, Albert Larsen, lying in his driveway.
Larsen had been there for at least an hour after slipping on some ice while going to get the newspaper. He told 24 Hour News 8 he couldn’t get up, but his first thought was to keep moving. So he inched his way up the driveway using his shoulder, shouting for help, until he couldn’t move anymore.
“I couldn’t move. I thought, ‘Oh my,’” said Larsen.
He said his clothes were freezing to the ground by the time Sadie and Jerry found him.
“He found me laying and says, ‘What’s up?’ And I said, ‘I wish I was up,’” Larsen recalled.
Larsen sustained a broken hip and bruising along a leg and shoulder. He was taken to a Grand Rapids hospital for rehabilitation.
Now Sadie is receiving credit for rescuing Larsen.
“If it wouldn’t been for that dog barking, I’d still be froze to the driveway,” said Larsen.
“She saved him,” said Jerry.
“Pretty nice dog,” agreed Larsen’s wife.
Larsen’s 90-year-old wife said she couldn’t imagine life without her husband and thanks Sadie for allowing the couple to celebrate another miracle: Their 69th wedding anniversary, which was Wednesday. Larsen said the secret to a long marriage is biting a lot of bullets.
~ Courtesy of WOOD TV8
Tags: dog alerts for help, dog helps fallen neighbor, dog hero, dog saves neighbor, neighbor saved from fall