Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100122
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When she went to check on her, Michelle found a gob of foam hanging from Tanner's mouth. When she noticed the dog's favorite rubber ball was missing, she went on a search - and found it lodged deep in Tanner's throat.
Michelle and her husband, John, are both 24. Their dog Tanner fills in for the children they don't yet have.
Which is one way of saying, Michelle freaked out.
She called a 911 operator, who instructed her on the Heimlich maneuver. It didn't work.
Two police officers arrived and tried the Heimlich, too, with the same result. Then two animal-control officers came and tried to pry open Tanner's mouth.
The dog became hostile and nervous and jumped around wildly - lodging the ball even deeper in her throat. They decided to take her to the vet.
But as soon as Michelle got the dog into the back seat of the cruiser, Tanner's tongue turned blue and she collapsed entirely.
``She's laying across me and I'm kicking and screaming, telling them all to get out and help her,'' Michelle recalls.
By the time they lifted the dog back onto the ground, Tanner was dead. Her bowels had released, her paws drawn inward.
``I'm like, `GET THE BALL OUT! DO SOMETHING - SHE'S ONLY 4 YEARS OLD!' '' Michelle recalls screaming.
That's when Roanoke animal control officer Chris Wimmer did something he'd never done before. He pried the ball out of Tanner's mouth and gave her . . . (heroic music, please) . . . dog CPR.
Officer W.T. Rock counted and thumped her chest, while Wimmer cupped his hands around the dog's jaws and blew as hard as he could into Tanner's mouth and nose.
``I mean the dog had been throwing up and everything, and he did not hesitate to give her mouth-to-mouth,'' Michelle says. ``A lot of people wouldn't do that on a person.''
For the first time in Roanoke animal-control history, a dog was brought back to life. An episode of ``ER'' could not have been more dramatic.
``I would've reacted that way and done the CPR,'' Michelle's husband, John, says.``But you don't expect somebody else to do it on your pet.'' He'd seen it done once on television's ``Rescue 911'' - ``but it was on a Dalmatian that had swallowed a tennis ball.''
The officers have even been back to check on Tanner, who seems to be recovering well from her near-death experience.
``I've been kidding her, saying, `Did you see the light of God, Tanner?' '' Michelle says. ``And she just looks at me like, `What?' ''
In the category of What Goes Around Comes Around:
Recently I wrote a column about Nancy Markhoff's outhouse and her soon-to-be foray into the world of indoor plumbing. Pending a few plumbing connections, I wrote, Markhoff would soon be able to take her first ceremonial flush.
Plumber A.J. Thomas read the column and showed it to his bosses, Sal and Kim Crisafi, who own Roanoke Plumbing and Drain Service. ``A.J. said, `This is our calling. We have to help this lady,' '' Kim Crisafi recalls.
The Crisafis' business happened to be slow, so they volunteered the $1,500 worth of labor it would take to finish Markhoff's plumbing.
As soon as they decided to do the good deed, their business phone started ringing off the hook.
Last Tuesday, the band of plumbers arrived, and the Markhoff privy was primed. ``Sal called me and told me to bring the newspaper home,'' Nancy says. ``He wanted me to have something to read on my new throne.
``If the haves helped the have-nots more, this would be a much better world.''
Kim Crisafi agrees. ``I think that if you have the means, you have a moral obligation to help those who don't,'' she says. ``I mean, think how much better off we'd be if every small business would take just $50 and do some good with it.''
Amen, sister, and let the flushing begin.
by CNB