Written by Andres Ramirez of Antioquia, Colombia

I live in a rural area close to Medellin here in Colombia.  One day, I was driving home like I usually do, when suddenly a little dog just got into the road from the grass beside and I was not able to dodge it.  I managed to not hit the dog with the front wheels, but I felt a bump with the rear ones.  I tend to drive fast, but that time around I was not going at more than 60 km/h (37mph).  It was the worst thing I’ve felt in my life ever since my grandfather died.

I made and got back to where the little dog was lying, she was with some people that appeared to be her family.  She appeared to have jumped into the road just to greet them.  She was in shock, her tongue out, but she was breathing and even though she had some blood on her, from the outside the injury did not look catastrophic.  So I told the people that were with her to get in the car, that we would go to the vet.

The people were a little boy who was very sad and his parents, when I told the mother she at first said:

“Look at her, she’s dead already.”

But I knew she was not, so I told her to please get in the car so we could take the dog to the vet, but she began asking me who would pay, who would take her home again, that she needed to be somewhere and a myriad of excuses not to get in the car.  Of course, I would pay and I would take her home again, but she would just keep talking. I then told the father and the boy to get in, the little boy immediately got into the car but the mother told him to get out.  So realizing this was going nowhere, I simply told her:

“Tell me your name, where do you live?”

She told me her name and signaled with a  finger somewhere in the mountains:

“And I live over there”.

I did not think of asking for a phone number in the moment, I said “ok bye” and I just grabbed the dog, put her in the car beside the driver’s seat and took off to the vet.  With hindsight, our verbal exchange may have not lasted more than 2 or 3 minutes, but it seemed like a eternity for me given than the dog was alive and every minute was golden.

Where To Go on a Saturday Night?

It was a Saturday night, and given that it was a rural area it was likely most veterinary clinics nearby were closed.  I was prepared to take the dog to downtown Medellin where there would be operating clinics, but it would take me at least one hour with normal traffic and it was urgent that the dog be seen as soon as possible.

So I thought of one veterinarian I knew, who worked where he lived (half the place was the clinic and the other half were his living quarters) and I got there first before I went any further.  While on the way, the dog regained consciousness, but she showed no real signs of pain, she was just shocked and disoriented.  When I arrived, the vet was there indeed but seemed to be just about to go out.  I told him the story and he agreed to see the dog.

At first he saw her gums, they were totally white and he said:

“This dog has an internal hemorrhage.”

I asked what could be done, and he said:

“Well, we can take her to the operating room and see if we can find where it is, and depending on where it is and the severity, we might be able to treat her.”

I said, “Let’s do it.”

He said he did not have any support personnel at the time, so I thoroughly washed my hands, put some sterile gloves on and we started.

Before the anaesthesia was given, he began pinching the dog’s rear legs with a needle. She would answer to some stimuli, but to some others she would not.  He told me:

“This is a sign of spinal cord damage, but right now I can’t tell you how grave it is. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

I Couldn’t Sleep Worrying About Her

The problem turned out to be damage to her bladder, which he repaired and he also spayed her at the same time. When we closed the dog, he told me he would give her medicine for the spinal cord as soon as she was awake.  I went home and it was not a good night for me, even though I had really nothing to have remorse about. I was not driving recklessly and I managed to secure care for the dog as soon as I could.  Now that the hemorrhage was no issue, my main concern was whether she would be able to walk again.

Two days later, she was ready to be discharged, and the vet gave me the list of drugs and care and I took her into the car again.  While we were on the road, she was lying and I still did not know how grave the spinal cord damage was, but suddenly she just got up and began watching things go by through the window. I could not be happier! She was definitely going to walk again. (She did later have to have her tail removed due to extensive nerve damage that caused her to chew it relentlessly.)

A New Home for Puppy

I looked for the people that were beside her in the road that day.  For the child I was sad, because I honestly thought the grown ups did not deserve to have the dog after they would not even go with me to the vet after the ordeal.  I searched for them for several days, but could not find them, so I just decided to keep her.

She now calls my home her home, and will do so for life.  She is friends with my other dogs and has given me lots of joy.  She is very intelligent and “talks” to me when she wants something.  She is about one year old now and has grown long. Her muscles are big and her hair is brilliant and beautiful.  This is what love and good food can do! We decided to name her Clarita.  Don’t Miss These Extraordinary Photos of Clarita!

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