Dog saves owner who saved him as puppy

I saw this coffee cup in the dollar store and had to buy it. My granddaughter, Jessica Coleman, works at the Second Chance Animal Shelter in Clarendon County. We love our animals. They become a part of the family.

A few years ago a friend of mine who works at Clarendon County Detention Center, Robert Felder, came by the house and said someone who had been brought in said he had a dog with puppies at his house without any one to look after them. I sent a friend, Bob Ridgeway, to check on it. He went by and talked to the man and got directions. He went and picked up the dog and her puppies. We found homes for the dogs. We took one of the puppies, a blond lab, and named him Max.

My granddaughter, Elizabeth Coleman, started feeding him and we all loved him. He grew to be a favorite.

We had an ice storm the next year and lost power. A generator was set up on the back deck, and a line ran in the back door to run the fridge and a heater. During the night, one of the younger grandchildren was cold and saw the back door was not completely shut. He brought the generator inside and closed the back door.

At 3 a.m. I got up to go to the bathroom. I fell and could not move. I thought I had had a stroke. Max came in and was nudging me. I told him to go get Furman. My grandson, Furman Coleman, came in and said Max pulled his cover off and barked until he came. He called 911.

When the paramedics came, they said if we had not called when we did, all of us would have been dead before morning. To this day, if anyone in the house is sick, Max stays beside their bed.

BETTY COLEMAN

Sumter