A hero of a dog!!!
Sometimes for reasons unknown to us, our pets will have a psychic sense about things and respond to emergency situations with heroic actions. Such was the case of Toby, a 2 1/2 golden retriever who saved his owner from choking on an apple skin, by jumping on her chest in a type of Heimlich move, which saved Debbie Parkhurst’s life.
Debbie was working on some jewelery she makes at home and decided it was time for a break. An apple seemed appetizing and while she usually skins the apples, she had recently read an article in a magazine that discussed the nutritional benefits of the skins of apples. After taking a bite, the skin of the apple got stuck in her throat and she began to choke. She tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver on herself by hitting her chest, but it didn’t work. Toby, at 75 pounds had been watching her and in an action he had never taken before, the dog began to jump up and down on her chest until the piece of apple was dislodged. Debbie says she does have some bruising as a result of the ordeal, but that is a small price to pay for what could have happened without Toby’s heroic efforts.
Toby was a 4 week old puppy when he was rescued from a garbage pail where someone had left him to die. This dog was meant to be alive for some purpose and it looks like his reason for living has been realized.
Toby was honored in a ceremony with a cat who saved a family from carbon monoxide poisoning and 5 other human heroes on Thursday. The ceremony was held at the Rainbow Room, above Rockefeller Center in New York City. The event was sponsored and hosted by the ASPCA to recognize those human and human-like heroes who make our world a better place.
For some great info on the tv show Heroes, check out:
http://www.watchingheroes.com/
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