They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
Darren Cropper says his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
On a quiet night around 4 a.m., Bear woke up Darren’s wife Janice by pouncing on her and howling in her ear. The commotion also woke up their son. That's when Janice rolled over and noticed her husband wasn’t in bed.
"I got up. I thought maybe he was having a coffee sitting down here watching TV," she said.
She followed Bear and rushed downstairs to find her husband of 35 years unconscious on the floor in the family room.
"I came down and the dog had jumped over the couch and onto Darren and I said, 'Holy crap,'" Janice recalled.
She called 911 and paramedics rushed to the scene. Darren was taken to hospital where doctors determined he suffered a massive heart attack.
Darren said he remembers waking up around 1 a.m. Feeling unwell with stomach problems, he headed to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
"I wasn’t in any pain, but everything felt fuzzy," he said.
"I was coming downstairs … When I hit the bottom step, that’s all I could remember."
That's when Bear -- who was born from two former service dogs – jumped into action. The family said they believe it was in his genes to know something was wrong. Here's the story of this amazing dog!