My Lassie

I always wanted a collie, ever since seeing Lassie as a little girl. So when Mom died and left me a little money I looked for a collie puppy. I finally found one puppy, who was born the very day Mom died. The breeder told me she was a trouble-maker, but I didn't care.

I named her Leah. She did prove to be trouble, always sticking that long nose where it didn't belong and constantly escaping. But one day she proved to be my hero.

I had been having back pain and was in and out of the hospital for it with no results. I was laying in bed and Leah kept poking my back with her nose and grumbling and growling. I sent her off the bed and she would get back up and start again. Thinking that sometimes dogs can smell things like cancer, I headed back to the hospital and demanded to be admitted.

The next morning I awoke paralyzed from the chest down. There was an abscess inside my spine crushing the spinal cord and they told me that had I waited and awoke at home paralyzed, by the time I got to the hospital, I would have died. The doctors cut away 6 inches of backbone to dig out the abscess and I spent 2 months in the hospital.

After coming home, I had 8 months of living in my living room with a hospital bed and commode. Leah wouldn't leave my side. She picks up things I drop and cheers me up. I am now walking with a walker - when they told me I would never walk again. It is a true miracle, thanks to Leah and her persistance. She is my Lassie.

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Story sent in by Cathy A. of Pembroke, MA.