A construction worker is being hailed a hero after administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a dog that accidentally swallowed a ball in Virginia, United States.
Bliss Nuckols, the daughter of the canine’s owner, recounted how the animal was saved, as stated on her Facebook page last Wednesday, May 6.
“So, today my [mom’s] German [shepherd], Jett, died. He was playing fetch outside, and he caught the ball and it got lodged in his throat,” she said alongside a photo of the dog.
“They attempted to get it out but couldn’t, so my mom and sister and her [boyfriend] got him in the car and my mom rushed to take him to the vet,” Nuckols added. “He was still breathing, but you could tell he was struggling.”
However, on the way to the veterinarian, her mother noticed that Jett had stopped breathing and was limp in the backseat. Since Nuckols’ mom was at a construction site when she noticed Jett’s condition worsen, she exited her car and immediately asked nearby workers for help.
After explaining her situation to one construction worker, he approached the dog and took the ball out of Jett’s mouth. However, the German shepherd was still not breathing.
“He then started doing CPR on him and that’s when Jett came back to life!” Nuckols explained. “This man saved him. My mom got to the vet and by then Jett was starting to get back to his old self.”
Nuckols then asked others to share her post to help them find the man so they could thank him. She explained that her mom was “so frazzled that she forgot to get his name.”
While Nuckols and her family were looking for the construction worker, he was trying to find them as well.
“If anyone knows the [lady] [who] [came] by our work zone on Delphine in front [of] Speedy’s about an hour ago that had the beautiful black German [shepherd] that had a ball stuck in his throat can y’all please tag her in this?” the man, named Cavaja Holt, said on his own page. “I’d like to know how he is…”
Holt explained that it was his first time to stick his hand down a dog’s throat. He also noted that it was his first time to give “any living animal mouth-to-mouth.”
As he ended his recollection of the incident, he hoped the dog was doing well. Moments after both posts circulated online, one Sarah Brown tagged Holt in Nuckols’ page, explaining that he was the one who saved Jett.
Holt later replied to Nuckols’ post, saying, “We all have to do our part.”
Meanwhile, Nuckols described the construction worker as a “true hero.” JB
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