Lifesaving Staffie Sam, Ana’s hero
Gino’s owner shares how faithful friend pulled on her arm till she woke up in smoke-filled home
If it was not for him I don’t think I would be here. I only realise now how much smoke and poison I inhaled that I could not wake.
Restauranteur Ana Zacharellis owes her life to 10-year-old Staffordshire terrier Sam, after a fire started in her kitchen.
Last Thursday, Zacharellis got home at about 11.30pm after a long, exhausting day at her restaurant, Gino’s.
“I was so tired,” she told Talk of the Town at her home later.
“All I wanted was to cook some pasta and watch Netflix to unwind.”
The next thing she knew, she was coughing [in bed] and Sam was barking frantically.
“It was a terrible feeling,” she said. “I could hear him barking next to me so I knew something was wrong, and I could hear myself coughing, but I couldn’t wake up.”
Doctors later told her that from their assessment, another two minutes in the thick toxic smoke and she would likely have died.
“Sam grabbed my arm and pulled and pulled until I woke up.”
She was confused and could hardly see anything through the smoke, but found her two cats waiting for her and Sam in the passage and they all made for the door.
“For some reason I was carrying a gas bottle,” she said. “I think I was going to use it to break a window.”
She called local security company Hi-Tec, which came to her aid very quickly.
The security guard insisted she go to hospital, where she was immediately put on oxygen.
Later, in a Facebook post, she thanked Florence Beauty Mentoor and the sisters at the hospital for putting her on oxygen so quickly.
“Thank you to my friends Janine Harris and Dennis Raymond Harris for wanting to go buy me an outfit to wear yesterday,” she posted.
“Thank you to those who sent well wishes and offers to help and to those I forget to mention. But my biggest thanks does not go out to a human, but to my little staffie Sam, who was barking and carrying on at my bed and pulling on my arm to get me awake, for if it was not for him I don’t think I would be here. I only realise now how much smoke and poison I inhaled that I could not wake, it was like a dream.”
Sam was bought for Ana’s son John, 10 years ago.
“He was the runt of the litter, actually he was going to die. Now look at him: he’s a hero. I thank God I had him here.”
Zacharellis said the incident was a wake-up call.
“I need to take time out when I’m tired,” she said.
https://www.merckmanuals.com/ says if smoke contains poisonous chemicals or is dense or if inhalation is prolonged, serious problems can develop. Burning household materials can produce poisonous fumes.