Being a firefighter is truly a job for heroes, and recently, Andrew Klein has proved that yet again. The emergency responder’s life-saving efforts brought a dog named Nalu back to life after he was pulled out of an apartment fire in Santa Monica, California.
It was stated in a press release that the dog, trapped alone in the house, had been overcome by heat and smoke and had collapsed. Crystal Lamirande, Nalu’s owner, came home shortly thereafter to find her apartment on fire.
Because of the efforts of 23 firefighters, the fire was controlled within 10 minutes, and no one else was harmed. However, Lamirande couldn’t get to her 10-year old dog, who was trapped under thick smoke. Thankfully firefighter Klein was eventually able to reach the pup.
Though the dog was found unresponsive, not breathing, and with no pulse, the firefighter did not give up.
Klein told KABC, “I discovered [Nalu] amidst all the smoke and the heat. I grabbed him and as soon as I grabbed him I knew that he was unresponsive just by his dead weight.”
The firefighter performed CPR, which is what the firefighters call “mouth-snout,” on the dog. Afterwards, Klein administered an oxygen mask.
Twenty minutes after undergoing CPR and being revived, Nalu starting breathing on his own. Miraculously, he gained consciousness and was able to walk around. Shortly after, neighbors took him to a local animal hospital.
Klein told KTLA 5, “It was pretty amazing, because I’ve been on a number of animal rescues like this that did not come out the same way that Nalu’s story did. It was definitely a win for the whole team and the department that we got him back.”
Images of the scene were taken by photographer Billy Fernando, who shared them on Facebook and praised Klein for his quick response and for saving Nalu’s life. On the Facebook post Fernando wrote, “Faith in humanity restored.”
Nalu is doing just fine now and was reunited with his hero when he went to visit Klein at the station last week.
Being a firefighter is not an easy job. Klein stated that the last couple of weeks at the station had been tough, so having a survivor swing by to visit was just what he and the crew needed.
Klein went on to say, “Our goal is to save people, and sometimes we’re not able to do that despite our best efforts. But to have a success story just like this, even with Nalu being a dog, I mean again he’s a life and he’s a life that matters. That was just a great morale booster for all of the guys here in our department.”
Good deeds such as Klein’s help motivate and uplift others, just as Klein did for Lamirande, who lost everything in the fire except for Nalu.
This story reminds us that every day, someone is out there doing something that positively impacts others. We all have the ability and responsibility to do the same.
Featured Image by Surrey County Council News on Flickr
Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
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