Nadene Goldfoot
Sisters Daisy and Maple
This is about Daisy, a Golden Retriever, who belonged to a blind man. It's a must to read.
James Crane worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. He was blind so he had a golden retriever named Daisy.
After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go; out of an act of love. She darted away into the darkened hallway.
Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke, James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later, Daisy came back along with James' boss, who Daisy just happened to pick up on the 112th floor.
On her first run of the building, she led James, James' boss and about 300 more people out of the doomed building. But she wasn't through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James' wishes, she ran back into the building.
On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again, she went back into the building. During this run, the building collapsed. James heard about this and fell into tears while on his knees.
Against all known odds, Daisy made it out alive, but this time she was carried by a firefighter. "She led us right to the people before she got injured," the fireman explained.
Her final run saved another 373 lives. She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives!
To me, Daisy's instinct as female dog was to save her charges, her puppies, from what she knew to be a smoke and fire surrounding them. She had no puppies but knew there people needed saving. We do not give our canines the credit they deserve. What a wonderful dog! Everyone's lives came first in her book.
The next week, Mayor Rudy Giuliani rewarded Daisy with the Canine Medal of Honor of New York. Daisy was the first civilian canine to win such an honor.
Resource:
The New York Times; September 19, 2001
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