EDITORIAL Lucky’s story shows us that good still exists in the world
A dog may be man’s best friend, but one “lucky” dog left for dead in West Virginia found his saviors in the form of a Greene County couple.
Lucky the dog suffered life-threatening injuries March 10 when he was struck by a car near New Martinsville, W.Va., and wasn’t breathing when Zack Shultz came upon him while driving home from his job at a natural gas well site.
Shultz stopped and resuscitated the dog, which was barely clinging to life and needed emergency care. Shultz called his wife, Chelsey, and she frantically searched for veterinarians who would care for the dog at such a late hour.
Most places told them the dog would have to be put down. That was an unacceptable answer to the Shultz family. They eventually found University Veterinary Specialists in McMurray, which offered to care for the dog and provide it with the extensive medical care the animal needed. Shultz drove for about 90 minutes to give the dog the best chance possible at living.
It wasn’t assured the dog would survive.
The dog had a broken femur, several skull fractures, brain swelling, nerve damage in his right front leg and a lung wasn’t functioning properly. The animal had to be stabilized for three days before the veterinarians could perform surgery on his femur.
But the surgeries were successful and the newly named “Lucky” has been rehabilitating from his injuries since March 21, learning to walk around with his battered right paw. As if Zach and Chelsey Shultz hadn’t done enough already, they’ve decided to adopt Lucky – they already have two other dogs – and are trying to raise money to pay for his expensive surgeries and intense rehab.
The love and passion this Waynesburg couple showed for this injured animal is beautiful. It’s the type of love it seems we rarely see in the news nowadays, although it surely is all around us.
There are many good people in the world doing great things we never hear about. But Lucky was especially fortunate to have Zach and Chelsey Shultz come into his life at the time he needed them the most.