Good Sam - A Blessing for 2014 and Hope for the New Year When Jo first saw Good Sam in the East Valley shelter, he was so badly injured that he couldn’t lift his head or move and he screamed in pain when touched. He had lacerations on his neck. It was clear that something terrible had happened to this little terrier and his condition seemed critical. Jo forced herself to walk away, thinking that there were so many sweet healthy dogs in the shelter that day and that Sam might never be able to regain the use of his legs. Though she left the shelter without Sam that day, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She decided to take a chance. This was a tough decision because Jo knew that it might mean having to choose to euthanize Sam if he was in too much pain and was unlikely to recover. She brought Sam to Dr. Alan Schulman at AMC West Los Angeles animalmedcenter/ because he appeared to have a spinal injury and Alan is a trusted orthopedic surgeon. The first miracle was that after Alan examined Sam and looked at the X-rays - he said it was whiplash from being shaken by the neck - and he predicted that Sam would recover fully with crate rest and no surgery would be needed. Looking at Sam in this video, you can see why Jo was worried about his prognosis. At the time, it seemed hard to believe that Sam could recover to the point where he would be able to function normally. But just two short weeks later, Sam is up and walking on his own. He can take treats and is a happy (and very handsome) guy. Tiny Tim was our Christmas miracle, but Sam’s recovery is the epic comeback of 2014 and is living proof that sometimes risks do pay off and sometimes the most dire-looking situations can turn around in the blink of an eye. We would like to thank Veronica Perry at East Valley Shelter, Pnina Gersten, Dr. Alan Schulman and the staff of AMC West Los Angeles for helping to make this miracle possible, and Tony Carnaghi for helping to turn our shaky iPhone video into a movie.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 03:21:36 +0000
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