ROCHESTER, Minn. — Most dog owners would prefer their pooch doesn’t wake them up at around 3 a.m.
Greg Dison didn’t mind when Ellie, his Maltese-Yorkshire terrier mix, did that in late November.
He’s probably alive today because of Ellie's quick action.
“My little Ellie saved my life,” the Rochester, Minnesota, man said.
The 8-pound dog woke Dison up just before 3 a.m. Nov. 20, 2022, barking and jumping on and around his head while he slept.
ADVERTISEMENT
At first he was groggily aware and annoyed by the dog’s antics. Then he smelled rotten eggs.
Dison forced himself awake fearing his home had a gas leak. He moved to get out of bed.
“I reached for my phone and as soon as my feet hit the floor, I fell down,” he said. Dison said he was unable to stand and disoriented but had the presence of mind to call 911.
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
According to the Rochester Fire Department, the call came into dispatch at 2:48 a.m. for a gas leak at his home on Fox Pointe Lane Southwest. Firefighters found Dison on the floor near his bedroom. They helped him to a chair they set outside the open front door to give him fresh air.
His home was filled with natural gas. Firefighters opened his front and back double doors to air out his home. Minnesota Energy responded to find a line to Dison’s gas fireplace had been accidentally opened.
Dison said he had people over to his home to help him do some work in his furnace room downstairs. It appeared the line to the fireplace had been accidentally nudged open and leaked gas into the house.
Dison said he apologized to the firefighters for “being a baby about this,” he said.
They told him it was a good thing he called and was roused when he was because the gas leak could have been fatal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Three-year-old Ellie likely saved his life.
Ellie, short for Eleanor, has been Dison’s companion since his older dogs, Levi and Calvin Klein, both died in their teens. One of them passed away just last fall, he said.
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
“Ellie was kind of lost without (Levi),” he said. “I think we’ve kind of comforted each other.”
Dison said even before they lost the elderly canine, Ellie was a source of comfort. He named her after he spied a tombstone in Oakwood Cemetery for a 9-month-old infant named Eleanor who died in the 19th century. Dison said he lost his son at just under 4 months old to sudden infant death syndrome. Across two centuries, Dison said he felt a deep kinship with Eleanor’s parents for their loss. He decided to name his new puppy after the infant.
“She really comforts me,” he said.
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
"filled" - Google News
January 15, 2023 at 01:01AM
https://ift.tt/REU4caI
Dog saved owner as Minnesota home filled with natural gas - Duluth News Tribune
"filled" - Google News
https://ift.tt/7TlNBYq
https://ift.tt/72QrhoA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Dog saved owner as Minnesota home filled with natural gas - Duluth News Tribune"
Post a Comment