The Pull Terrier
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page created: 13th March 2003
By Steve Gravenor
A PET dog was hailed a hero last night after dragging it's paralysed and
bed-ridden owner from a blazing house into the garden.
Sandy, the two-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, clamped her jaws around
Keith Chandler's jumper and pulled the 12-stone former carpenter 12ft to
safety.
Keith, 29, said: "Sandy saved my life - I've got no doubt about it. If I'd been in
there another minute I'd have been a gonner.
"The whole room almost exploded just seconds after Sandy pulled me into the garden. I was shocked and dazed but couldn't believe how lucky I was."
Keith, who was paralysed from the chest down in a car accident three years ago, had already ordered his four children out of the house in North Shoebury, near Southend, Essex, when fire broke out in the kitchen.
"I was in my bed in the living room downstairs when I smelled burning and could see smoke pouring from the kitchen," he said.
"I shouted at the kids to get out. They didn't want to leave me so I had to get really angry and order them to get out straight away. As soon as they opened the door the house became like an inferno through the rush of air.
"I started shouting for help but all I could hear was the kids crying outside and I could see the room filling up with thick black smoke.
"In the end I just managed to roll myself off the bed and onto the floor. I was trying to drag myself to the door on my elbows but wasn't getting very far.
"Then, Sandy ran in from the garden and grabbed me by the top of my jumper and just pulled me along to the patio doors. Somehow she managed to nudge me over the step and into the garden."
Keith was treated by ambulance crews at the scene for the effects of smoke inhallation and shock.
The blaze broke out at about 8.30pm on Thursday when Keith's partner Mel Knight, 24, had popped out to the shop, leaving the couple's four children - Robert, ten, Bradley, six, Jade, four and Reece, three - playing upstairs.
The fire was so ferocious it quickly gutted the entire three-bedroom house and the family are now being forced to stay with neighbours while they try to find alternative accommodation.
It took firefighters 90 minutes to extinguish the inferno which is believed to have been caused by a chip-pan fire which had been left on a hob before a power cut.
Mel said: "I was only gone 30 minutes and when I came back the house was gutted. I tried to get in the front door but was beaten back. I found Keith and the children at the back door. We are all devastated.
"There was a pan on a ring but a chip pan on a back ring wasn't on. I think the heat from the saucepan set fire to the chip pan.
"We are all so grateful to Sandy for dragging Keith out. Without the dog, he wouldn't have stood a chance."
The family got Sandy a year ago and reckon she has always been devoted to Keith. "We're now trying to work out how best to repay her for her loyalty."
A fire brigade spokesman said: "The dog undoubtedly helped this man get out of the house. He is severely paralysed and I think without the dog's help we would probably be dealing with a fatality here."
Many thanks to reporter Steve Gravenor for his permission to reproduce this story on SBT Fun
This article is copyright of Steve Gravenor
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