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F e b r u a r y 2 6 , 2 0 1 4 • V o l . 7 • N o . 1 0 • w w w .T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m
! D A O R OFF Hailey Man To
Lucky Wags His Way Back Into Service Following Near-Death Experience
Drive In The Super Bowl Of Desert Racing
BY KAREN BOSSICK
L
ucky has lived up to his name once again. The golden Labrador retriever trotted into Wood River Middle School where he is a reading therapy dog on Friday—just weeks after nearly dying in an accident that left a gaping hole in his chest. Lucky, as the dog is now known, was cavorting with two Lab friends in the White Clouds neighborhood across from Sun Valley Club when he ran smack dab into a piece of rebar—a property stake marker sticking 18 inches out of the ground but buried under the snow. “I heard a shriek and ran to him and found it had torn his chest open. He was standing there bleeding with a hole in his chest you could put your fist in,” said Terry Tischer, Lucky’s human companion. “The vet—Karsten Fostvedt— said it was one of the worst accidents he’d seen. Lucky had broken ribs, shredded muscle, a collapsed lung, a lot of foreign debris in his chest cavity… If I had gotten there five minutes later, Lucky would have been dead.” Lucky nearly died twice during surgery, which lasted two-and-ahalf hours. He received four layers of stitches and 65 staples. He spent 10 days in the animal hospital—two of those days in an oxygen tank in intensive care. “We thought he probably wouldn’t make it when he first came in— there was a huge hole in his chest where you could see his organs. But he was really a good patient. He was in all that pain and he never ever tried to bite. He ended up having the most visitors of any pets we’ve ever cared for,” said Vet Tech Lauren Simmons. “Karsten said it was a miracle that he survived,” said Tischer, who is sleeping with Lucky on mattresses placed on the kitchen floor until he’s well enough to jump up onto the bed where he’s accustomed to sleeping. Tischer found Lucky a little more than a year ago at the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley after her beloved 15-year-old dog died. “I said, ‘I want a 2-year-old. And, if I get a dog, I’m going to name it Lucky,’ ” Tischer recalled. “I saw a group of Labs barking. And this one was sitting quietly. He looked at me,
CONTINUED, PAGE 8
BY KAREN BOSSICK
racing on a flat surface but a very long, bumpy, rocky, hilly, nasty aul Robinson had been batch of terrain. It’s eating dust kicked up in his like a 300-pound guy face in races for nearly 16 beating you up while hours as he steered his off-road you try to drive. But buggy over sagebrush and around I wouldn’t have it any cactus. He was tired, sweaty, other way.” catatonic. That’s why RobHis mouth felt as dry as sandpainson will head 1,336 per. His mind was beginning to miles from his home in play tricks on him. And the rumHailey to Las Vegas the bling of the engine reverberating week of March 12 to inside his helmet hummed like his compete in The Great favorite song. American Off-Road “Rock! My side!” yelled naviRace. gator Chad Ramsey through the The General Tire headset. Mint 400—the Super Robinson pitched the car into a Bowl of off-road racsideways turn, missing the rock by Longtime local Paul Robinson possibly owns the only off-road race vehicle based in Blaine ing—will take place County. an inch. March 12 through 16. The buggy reared in the air like son asked himself. More than a thousand a bucking bronco as it hit a series of He knew the answer, even as he asked of the world’s top off-road championship roller-coaster dips on the surface of the it. The payoff was getting to compete in competitors, including Robinson, will do ground. The tires kicked a few feet off the race. battle in 20 different classes of vehicles the ground. “When you watch NASCAR, the across a brutal, unforgiving race course In his rearview mirror Robinson could drivers are turning left the whole time, south of Las Vegas. see another car hot on his tail—until it sitting comfortably in their seats. I “It’s 400 miles of the butt-kicking, did a nose dive into the sand, its hood don’t want to take anything away from car-braking, craziest thing you can do, in separating from its body and flying off NASCAR, but it’s violent in an off-road the Nevada desert!” said Robinson. into the air before it rolled over and over. car the whole time!” said Robinson. “It’s “Why in hell am I doing this?” Robinas difficult a sport as there is. You’re not CONTINUED, PAGE 9 Paul Robinson won a class 16 championship in the black Snell car.
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