Police: Dog Saves Toddler From Drowning
MARCELLUS (WWJ/AP) - Police say a southwestern Michigan toddler was saved by his family's Labrador retriever after falling into a swimming pool and nearly drowning.
The Cass County sheriff's office says 14-month-old Stanley Drauch was blue with his face up in the water when his mother, Patricia Drauch, found him Sunday afternoon at their home in Marcellus.
At first, Patricia Drauch thought her son was floating. But when she looked closer, she saw her son wasn't under the water.
The family's dog, named Bear, was in the pool, holding Stanley on his back, out of the water.
"[Bear] wouldn't move in the pool," Patricia Drauch told WOOD-TV. "He didn't bark. He didn't move. It was like he was afraid to move at all until I got Stanley up out of the pool and that's when [Bear] came up out of the pool with me."
Patricia Drauch reportedly told deputies she and her son walked to the garage to get a shovel to dig out a plant, but after they arrived, the child was no longer there.
Stanley was unresponsive when he was pulled from the water. Patricia Drauch tried calling 911, but she said she couldn't get through, so she decided to drive to the fire department, which is about two miles from her home. She continued to call 911 and while talking to a dispatcher, Stanley regained consciousness.
Emergency personnel the fire department examined Stanley before he was taken to a local hospital. He was released soon after being seen by a doctor.
Cass County Undersheriff Rick Behnke told WOOD-TV that Bear "is a lifesaver."
"If Bear wasn't out, I don't think Stanley would have made it," said Patricia Drauch. "He proved that he's got enough love for the kids he's more than just our hunting dog."
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