Man says newly-adopted rescue dog saved his life after he suffered a stroke

Sadie had been turned away from three shelters before being rescued by Brian Myers

A dog that was previously turned away from three animal shelters rescued her new owner after he suffered a stroke early this year.

Brian Myers, 59, adopted Sadie, a German Shepherd, from the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in New Jersey in late 2020, after the dog was turned away from three other facilities.

Megan Brinster, the executive director of the shelter, told CBS News that they take in dogs that have nowhere else to go, adding that Sadie was sent away from other facilities because she struggled in interactions with men.

Mr Myers said that he rescued Sadie because he thought, “let me give this dog a chance because she’s beautiful and I think I can work through her issues.”

However, only a few months after being adopted, Sadie ended up rescuing Mr Myers when he suffered a stroke in his home on 16 January.

“I was very lucky to have her the night that I had the stroke,” Mr Myers told CBS. “I was getting up out of the bed and as soon as I stood up here, I fell straight down.”

The 59-year-old said that although his mobile phone was only about 15ft away from him, he was unable to reach it as he had no feeling on his left side and could not stand up.

He told The Washington Post that a concerned-looking Sadie stood over him, adding: “She kept licking me and crying, so I reached my right hand up to pet her, then I grabbed her collar.”

Mr Myers said that to his shock, over a 5-minute period Sadie then dragged him over to his phone, allowing him to able to reach it and call for help from local emergency services.

Doctors at Englewood Health hospital later that night informed Mr Myers that he had suffered a stroke and said it was likely that Sadie had saved his life with her actions.

“It was the best decision I’d ever made to adopt her,” Mr Myers told the Post, adding to CBS that “as far as I know she had never been trained as a service dog or anything.”

Mr Myers said rescue dogs are often loyal, because “when you have a dog who has lost something — all the dogs that come here have lost a family, a person, or they never quite had that. So when they make that connection, you really become their world.”

Mr Myers was released from hospital last month and was greeted by Sadie outside of the facility, with the dog jumping all over him and his wheelchair.

He told CBS about the reunion: “She just immediately jumped on me and was kissing my face, knocked my glasses and my mask off, and I just thought, I love this dog.”