Lily - Surviving Against the Odds
No one is ever prepared for a real disaster. A fire breaks out in a suburban condominium complex. An eighty year old man throws a cigarette into a trash can. Three people die.
Fire fighters put out the blaze as a stunned group of on lookers wonder how they are going to put their lives back together. One of the survivors is more frantic than the others. Her cat is still in that fire.
Rocky River firefighters realize that there is still a chance for the cat. Two brave firemen renter the smoking debris. It’s hard to see and hope is flickering. They search through the first floor and find a collapsed ceiling panel in the living room. Instinctively they lift it up. Under the heavy piece of dry wall, covered with soot and certainly in shock, they find Lily.
Fire fighters know CPR. In these situations the smoke damages the sensitive lining of the lungs. The irritation can lead to edema, a fluid that fills the lungs. Smoke inhalation victims can’t breath. Lily was a lighter shade of purple. They rig up an oxygen mask and start helping Lily come back to the real world.
The mayor of Rocky River and the Animal Warden are on the scene. Certainly part of the cat owner’s recovery will be connected to the survival of her cat. The mayor gives the word. “Try to save that cat. We’ll find a way to get the medical bills paid. Just try to help that kitty.”
Rocky River Animal warden Mike Hearn is a participating Animal Control Officer in Project Noah. Lily is rushed to Gateway Animal Clinic.
She is given immediate attention. Life saving oxygen therapy, diuretics, antibiotics and antishock medication are administered. Respiratory distress is a fragile state. Everything is on a tight rope.
Once stable, animal technicians began cleaning the soot and debris from her. Cats are very fastidious creatures. If Lily begins licking herself, she would ingest toxic material from the soot and fumes that clung to her hair coat.
Lily’s owner called the clinic at least five times daily for the next four days. Every one at Gateway understood her stress. She would repeat herself. We never were sure she was quite with it. Who could blame her? The woman’s life has literally gone up in flames.
Finally, on day four, the two were re-united. Piece by piece, slowly, but surely, Lily’s owner’s life was coming back together. It would be a long road, but she was starting to see the way. Lilly’s recovery played a remarkable role in the process. The physical healing paralleled the mental and spiritual progress.
By the fifth day, Lilly was doing well. She could go home to her owner, but her owner had no home. Gateway Animal Clinic with the assistance of Project Noah agreed to provide boarding until the owner was ready.
The owner came to visit daily for a week. Her life was literally up in smoke, but a least her Lily was safe. The desperation of her situation was forcing the owner to move out of state. Taking Lilly with her was not an option. More support, more shelter from the storm was needed.
Project Noah agreed to shelter the cat and work through local humane and rescue operations could find her a new home. The owner was remarkably sad, but at the same time so relieved that Lilly had survived. She truly loved this cat in a very unselfish way.
She loved her enough to let her go, to let her find a new life. We could learn a lot from such an example of real caring.
The Human Animal Bond often brings out the best in the human species. Project Noah finds a way to keep the bond alive and more importantly to pass it on.
