— A blind woman from Brewster has been reunited with the guide dog that saved her life when she was hit by a mini bus in June
Audrey Stone, 62, and her 8-year-old golden retriever, Figo, were hit by an oncoming bus as they were crossing the street while on their typical daily walk.
Figo saw the bus coming towards them, and threw himself in front of his owner — right into harm’s way.
“And then he broke away from my hand and flung himself at the bus, like Superman, he just flew, he jumped up at the bus to stop it,” Stone said.
Stone was hit and fell to the ground, fracturing her elbow, ankle and three ribs. Figo’s right front leg was broken in the incident.
“I don’t remember, I was most likely hit already, but he spotted there was trouble, apparently,” Stone said. “So the bus wouldn’t go any further, and he stopped it.
The dog refused to leave Stone’s side until she received medical attention.
Stone and Figo were apart for four months as they recovered, WCBS 880’s Kelly Waldron reported.
“I was glad to see him, you know,” Stone said. “I told him he’s home, so he knows he’s home.”
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has awarded Figo the ‘Dog of the Year’ award for his bravery.
Figo was trained by the Guide Dog Foundation.
chadwicke619 on February 12nd, 2020 at 05:09 UTC »
Kind of amazing how many people think a four-legged animal is completely immobilized by breaking one of their four legs. I mean, humans only have two legs and even we can move with one of them broken.
ricamnstr on February 12nd, 2020 at 04:58 UTC »
For everyone commenting on the dog had to stay because of his broken leg:
Dogs are really good at walking on 3 legs, and will drag themselves on 2 if they have to. In situations like this, the dog is usually so terrified that they just run after being hit, so it’s pretty remarkable that he did stay and do the job he was trained to do.
Exxcentrica on February 12nd, 2020 at 01:11 UTC »
Awesome! In 2014, The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Los Angeles awarded their most heroic dog of 2014, to a cat.
Tara, a 6-year-old cat living with her human family in Bakersfield, California, raced into action when her 4-year-old human companion, Jeremy, was attacked without warning or provocation by a neighbor’s roaming dog. The entire incident was caught on security cameras and the video posted on YouTube by Jeremy’s father, Roger Triantafilo.
The boy had been playing quietly on his tricycle in his family’s driveway when the dog spied him and ran into the yard, grabbed his bare leg, and dragged him from his trike. With his teeth clamped into Jeremy’s leg, the dog was dragging the boy across the driveway and shaking his head violently when Tara sprinted toward them, slamming her body into the dog. The startled dog released Jeremy and ran, with Tara close behind him.