A small dog in the UK barked wildly in the middle of the night, waking up the female owner to perform emergency first aid on her husband, who had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, ultimately saving him from the brink of death. This heroic act by the dog earned it the title of “CPR Hero” from the British Heart Foundation.
According to a report by CBS, the incident occurred last year in the late night in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. At the time of the incident, local residents Adam Cooke and his wife were asleep when their 4-year-old Golden Retriever named Polly suddenly started barking.
Polly, who usually slept quietly through the night, had never displayed such behavior before, which alerted Mrs. Cooke from her sleep. Upon checking her husband who was lying next to her, she noticed his breathing was irregular and eventually stopped altogether.
Mrs. Cooke, who had previously worked as a nurse, immediately sprang into action. After calling emergency services, she performed CPR on her husband until paramedics arrived. On the way to the hospital, paramedics had to administer up to 7 electrical shocks to restore his heart rate to normal.
Mr. Cooke remained unconscious for 6 days before finally waking up in the hospital. Doctors diagnosed him with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that impairs the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. After weeks of hospitalization and undergoing surgery to implant an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, Mr. Cooke was finally discharged.
Mr. Cooke mentioned, “When I was discharged, I will never forget the moment I saw Polly again and how it came to my aid that night. I hugged it tightly, crying for a good 20 minutes.”
The Cookes believe that Polly was able to sense Mr. Cooke’s distress and that it was indeed responsible for saving his life. They are convinced that Polly even knew what was happening at that time.
Mrs. Cooke informed the British Heart Foundation that Polly may have alerted her within seconds of Mr. Cooke’s cardiac arrest. It was the first responder. It was thanks to its alert that she was able to perform CPR on Mr. Cooke immediately.
In recognition of Mrs. Cooke and Polly’s life-saving actions, the British Heart Foundation officially awarded them the “CPR Hero” award at an awards ceremony held in London on November 25.
According to a report by the BBC, canine behaviorist and trainer Louise Glazebrook pointed out that dog owners often underestimate the capabilities of their pets.
Glazebrook said, “Dogs are constantly receiving signals from us humans, and we either don’t understand or don’t see what they are doing.”
She added, “Dogs have approximately 220 million smell receptors, while we only have about 5 million, which is why we should nurture and develop canine disease detection programs to harness their amazing potential in disease detection.”