Carmen, a beautiful 9-year old Boxer, has truly proven herself to be man’s best friend. When her owner’s house caught fire, Carmen did everything she could to save his life. The first firefighters on the scene found her laying over him, trying to shield his body from the smoke. Her owner, unfortunately, did not survive, but Carmen is now fighting for her own life and veterinarians are doing everything they can. Watch her amazing story of heroism here:
“All things considered she’s doing quite well,” said Dr. Daniel Carey on Saturday morning.
Carey is one of the veterinarians at Cincinnati Care Center taking care of the chocolate-colored 9-year-old boxer who was placed on a ventilator Friday evening. Veterinarians believe the move may be the reason she’s still alive.
“She is definitely still considered very critical but she is certainly in better condition than she was before we put her on the ventilator,” said another vet, Dr. Marlo Anderson, on Friday.
As smoke and flames filled the basement of Ben Ledford’s Goshen Township home Thursday, Carmen was found trying to save his life, firefighters told neighbor Ron Mitchell.
“When the fire department did get to Ben, his dog was laying over his face protecting him,” Mitchell said.
The K9 suffered severe lung damage because of intense heat and smoke. Ledford died a short time after he was taken to an area hospital.
Once Carmen was hooked up to the ventilator she was sedated and made comfortable while her lungs heal.
“Had we not been able to put her on this (ventilator), I definitely think she would have passed away,” Anderson said. “We do have about a 50 percent on average success rate once they go on the ventilator for something like this that they’ll be able to come off the ventilator.”
Veterinary staff will begin weaning Carmen off of the ventilator sometime Sunday, Carey said.
“And that’s the next critical phase,” he said.
Carmen also remains attached to an IV and telemetry to monitor her heart. She seems to be reacting positively to treatment, Carey said.
“Keeping her in this kennel enables us to get the oxygen levels a little bit higher than we normally would in that case, as well as minimizing any stress for her movements,” Anderson said.
