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Hello, kitty? Police help man after cat calls 911
One heart-warming animal story, RB-style (sorry, no bestiality this time)... none of my brain-dead, overfed and lazy felines could ever do this...When Timmy was in trouble, Lassie knew to bark for help. But he had nothing on Gary Rosheisenâs cat, Tommy. When Rosheisen fell out of his wheelchair Thursday night, Tommy knew to dial 911. Or maybe it was just dumb luck. Rosheisen fell while trying to get from his wheelchair into bed about 7 p.m. He couldnât get up because of the pain â he has osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance â so he yelled for help. The only reply was his neighborâs loud snoring. Rosheisen, 50, couldnât reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help. And the phone was on the other side of the room of his North Side apartment. So he laid on the floor, shivering and wondering if he would get help before the nurse came at 9:30 a.m. Then he heard a knock on the door. He hollered twice to come in. In walked Columbus Police Officer Patrick Daugherty, who had followed Rosheisenâs voice to his bedroom. "How did you know to come here?" Rosheisen asked. Daugherty told him a 911 call had come in from Rosheisenâs Beechcroft Road apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police tried to call back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out. "Well, it must have been Tommy," Rosheisen said. Daugherty didnât believe it. Then he walked into the living room, and there was the rust-orange-and-tan striped cat, laying by the telephone on the floor. "I know it sounds kind of weird," Daugherty said, but he isnât sure how else to explain it. Rosheisen got Tommy three years ago to help lower his blood pressure, and tried to train him to call 911. He wasnât sure how well it worked, though, and treats were involved. And after he got a medical-alert necklace, he didnât see the point. But he wasnât wearing the necklace on Thursday because he had gone to the hospital to scan his blood vessels, and metal is not allowed in the machine. His forearm was badly bruised and sore from an IV, further weakening him. The phone in the living room always is on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons â including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone. "He must have just happened to hit the right buttons," Rosheisen said. Tommy, shy despite his deed, hid around the corner while Rosheisen told the story. But he eventually came out. "Thereâs the man of the hour," Rosheisen said. "Heâs my hero." Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-01-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=138979 |