Dogs have earned their title of “Man’s Best Friend” for a good reason. There are many stories of dogs showing a level of empathy and insight that’s beyond what we give them credit for.
Our canine companions are invaluable in search-and-rescue missions, can detect cancer in humans, and can even think logically and strategically to get their owners out of dangerous situations.
Don’t believe me? Wait until you see just how far Sadie and Bella, two labrador retrievers, were willing to go for their human.
Alexandria Naspolini was just going about her day when two labradors run into her yard, barking frantically.
“I usually am very routine, but that day, I didn’t do my usual,” Alexandra told Inside Edition. “I was sitting on the floor drinking coffee and saw her outside. Then I heard the other dog barking.”
From their barks, Alexandria immediately knew that something was horribly wrong.
In footage from Maureen Hatcher’s doorbell cam, you can see the two dogs open the door, escape from the house, and make a beeline for Alexandria’s yard – just a few doors down the road.
Alexandria knew that Bella and Sadie were her neighbor’s dogs. And they were desperately trying to tell her something.
In the viral video from the doorbell cam, you can see Alexandria approach the house and knock on the door, only to find it ajar.
“Ma’am?” She calls into the house. But there’s no reply.
“The house was so dark. I was so scared to be inside but it was like, ‘Something is wrong,'” Alexandria told ABC News.
She decides to investigate. And it’s a good thing she does. Inside, her neighbor is in serious trouble.
Alexandria finds Maureen lying on the floor. She can’t move and can barely speak. She calls 911 and St. Johns County Fire arrives on the scene.
The paramedics recognize the symptoms of a stroke right away – Maureen is experiencing weakness on her left side, confusion, and is having trouble speaking.
They load her onto a stretcher and rush her to Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville – a center that specializes in strokes.
She is immediately tended to by a specialist.
“Ms. Hatcher was having an ischemic stroke, caused by a blood clot blocking a vessel that supplies blood, and thus oxygen, to the right side of her brain,” Dr. Nima Amim Aghaebrahim, an interventional neurologist, explained to News4Jax.
Maureen has a blood clot in her neck that has to be removed – but what is her prognosis?
Dr. Nima performs an innovative procedure by making a small incision in Maureen’s groin and passing a microcatheter into the blocked blood vessel.
“When the brain is deprived of blood, cells die and permanent brain injury can occur. Timing is everything. One of the most important factors that can lead to a good outcome for patients in these situations is to get the blood vessel opened quickly and successfully,” Dr. Nima told News4Jax.
The entire procedure is over in under 20 minutes.
The procedure was a success!
And the first thing Maureen did when she got home was walk to Alexandria’s house to thank her.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw how well she was doing,” Alexandria told News4Jax. “The last time I saw her, she was on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.”
Maureen firmly believes that she wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her dogs, Bella and Sadie.
“I couldn’t move,” Maureen told Inside Edition. So she pleaded with her dogs to go and get help. “I said, ‘Mommy needs help, I’m in trouble here, I can’t move,’ and they were gone.”
Maureen has fully recovered now, but things could have ended very differently that day.
Firstly, nobody knows how the dogs managed to unlock the door. Maureen tells reporters that her front door usually locks automatically.
“By rights, I shouldn’t be in the shape that I’m in. I had an angel across the street and I had a great rescue in the neighborhood. I’m blessed, very blessed,” she told People.
Secondly, how had the dogs known to get help? Maureen says that that’s not something she ever taught them.
“Had it not been for my dogs going and getting my neighbor, I wouldn’t be here today,” Maureen told Inside Edition.
The insight and perception that Bella and Sadie display is truly remarkable!
To see these heroic dogs running to help Maureen for yourself, watch the video below.
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Source: YouTube/First Coast News, People, Inside Edition, News4Jax
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