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Hanahan, SC (WLTX) – How far would you go to save the life of a puppy, a puppy that’s not even yours? One firefighter went above and beyond the call of duty.
William Linder saved the animal from a burning building and then saved him again when the dog’s owner walked away.
Lindler trained in Columbia, volunteered in Newberry and is now a fulltime firefighter in Hanahan. These days he has a special fondness for Jake, a one year old pit bull, who just happens to be the station mascot.
William says “Jake is a normal, typical puppy. He loves to run and play. He doesn’t hardly want to sit still”.
But Jake is far from normal.
On April 21, 2015, William was washing his car when he smelled smoke. A building on his neighbor’s property was on fire. William pulled Jake from a burning shed. The 4 pound puppy wasn’t moving or breathing, so William gave Jake life-saving mouth to snout resuscitation.
“We estimated he was in the burning building ten to eleven minutes before we got to him” says William. “Just the volume of smoke and heat that was coming from the fire, he’s lucky to be alive.”
Jake was badly burned and needed immediate medical care. but his owners said they couldn’t afford to save the puppies life, so they walked away, leaving Jake at the vet’s office. That’s where William stepped in. He adopted the dog, giving Jake a new ‘leash’ on life.
“He was burned over 75 percent of his body,” William says. “He even burned his paw pads. He went through about six weeks of antibiotics to fight off the infection. He had medicated baths twice a day. He was on morphine for 6 weeks. He had to have 24 hour care.”
Despite the extensive care, the scars on Jake’s body are a permanent reminder of what happened.
“Unfortunately fir won’t grow back in these spots. I say unfortunately, for me that’s a test of his character and makes him unique”, says William
After Jake recovered from his burns, William started taking Jake to work and it didn’t take for fellow firefighters long to welcome him into their family. he was given a badge and a certificate showing he’s the official fire house mascot, complete with Jake’s paw print. William says “It was just meant to be. this is home for him”.
But he’s more than a mascot. William takes Jake to elementary schools for educational classes about fire prevention.
He hopes to eventually train him as an arson detection dog.
“He is such a great all around dog, partner in crime, right hand man. whatever you want to call him “, says William. “No matter how bad of a day I’ve had, he just tends to make it all better”.
