WARNER- For many of us, our dogs are like family members. When they fall ill, it can be devastating. For one Warner couple, losing their brand new puppy almost became a reality. Nine month-old Rocky has proven to be as strong as his name, much to the relief of his owner Susan Cherniwchan.
“It didn’t look like he was breathing and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh my God he’s dead’.”
Cherniwchan and her boyfriend, Joe Lend, have only lived in Warner for a couple of months, and welcomed Rocky into the family just two weeks ago. While exploring his new home, the young pooch got into some fertilizer.
“Eventually he just fell over and he just laid there and he had water coming out of his snout and you could tell he was in pain,” says Lend.
The couple rushed him to the vet.
“He ended up staying overnight, they had to put him on intravenous, blood tests and all that kind of stuff and he was in very, very bad shape,” adds Lend.
Good news came the next day: Rocky was ready to come home, but not before the bill was paid in full.
“We went to the counter and the bill was $236 dollars and so I talked to the receptionist and said ‘Could you wait to the end of the month when I get paid and I’ll cover the bill?’” he added.
The clinic was unable to release Rocky until his bill was paid. Not sure what to do next, the couple stepped outside to come up with a plan.
“All of a sudden the receptionist came out, she says ‘Your bill is paid’ and I said ‘How could the bill be paid?’ I went back in and the little boy and the lady were standing there with their dog and Susan says to the boy, ‘Did your mom pay the bill?’ and the little boy shook his head yes,” added Lend.
For Cherniwchan, the compassion from a stranger was almost too much.
“I grabbed her and I hugged her and I just bawled my eyes out and thanked her very much.”
But, it’s what happened next that really left the couple stunned.
“This lady was a total stranger, never seen her before. I asked her name, she wouldn’t give me her name because I told her at the end of the month I could send her the cheque to cover the expense. She said ‘No, I don’t want nothing.’ Something good happened at Christmas time to her and she is just passing it on,” adds Lend.
The couple says they never imagined something like this would happen to them, and now they will wait for the perfect opportunity to pay it forward.
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