JUNE 10, 2015 UPDATE: An awesome, unidentified benefactor is paying for all of Figo’s veterinary bills. More good news: Figo won’t have to wear a “cone of shame.”
“He’s a good boy and he’s leaving his bandage alone,” Dr. Angela O’Donnell of Middlebranch Veterinary told the Journal News today. “That points to the strides he’s making. If it was bothering him more, he probably would be chewing at it.”
Audrey Stone, whose life Figo saved, told the Journal News the dog “deserves the purple heart.” If you’d like to send her a card or note, mail it to Audrey Stone, c/o Trinity Lutheran Church, 2103 Route 6, Brewster, NY 10509.
The driver of a mini-bus apparently didn’t see Audrey Stone, who is blind, and her guide dog, Figo, walking across a street in Brewster, N.Y., yesterday morning.
Figo, however, immediately saw the bus coming toward them. He literally sprang into action and jumped toward the vehicle.
“I don’t know if (the driver) thought (Stone) was going to move faster, but it looks like the dog tried to take most of the hit for her,” Paul Schwartz, who witnessed it all, told the Journal News.
Both Figo and Stone were hit by the bus, but thanks to the guide dog’s heroic action, they are alive today. Stone suffered several fractures, and Figo’s right front leg was severely cut.
“There were 15 EMTs and people all around her, and the dog didn’t want to leave her side,” Schwartz said. “He was flopping over to her and she didn’t want him to get away from her, either. She kept screaming, ‘Where’s Figo?’ We kept telling her he was fine.”
Dogs are not allowed in ambulances, so after Stone was taken away to a hospital, Schwartz said the guide dog seemed kind of lost. Firefighters put Figo in their truck and took him to Middlebranch Veterinary, where he had surgery on his leg.
A staff member told the Journal News Figo was welcome to stay at the animal hospital “as long as Audrey needs before she takes him home.”
In an update on its Facebook page this morning, the animal hospital wrote, “All of us at Middlebranch Veterinary would like to thank everyone for the generous outpouring of well wishes for the service dog Figo. He is resting comfortably and recovering nicely from his wounds.”