HARMONY — Seeing Tucker today running through his yard and playing with his Pit Bull buddy Mona, it's hard to believe that only a week ago the 3-year-old Great Dane-Labrador mix was in medical danger after accidentally swallowing a plastic ball.
Beaming from cheek to cheek, owner Christina Summitt is happy to thank the kindness of strangers.
After observing "Tuckie" vomiting with constipation, Summitt took him to Harmony Animal Hospital and quickly learned that an unknown foreign object was stuck in his intestines. Not knowing how she would pay for the $2,700 estimated veterinary bill, Summitt went ahead with the surgery to save Tucker's life.
Today, his doctor removed the 15 remaining staples from Tucker's sternum to his privates, where they had expertly removed a four-inch, green plastic ball from his intestines. Only a few days earlier Tucker's health was in question.
On Saturday, April 19, while tending bar at the Clinton Holiday Inn where she works as a full-time chef, Summitt was visibly upset that her dog was in surgery.
"I have Mona's paw print on my forearm," she said of her other dog. "I'm a Pit Bull advocate, work with a Pit Bull rescue." She was chatting with a customer, "So we started sharing phone pics of our doggies, I got emotional about Tuckie being in surgery ... and just asked them to pray for my dog, have good thoughts."
What happened next came as a surprise. The man, who Summitt said wishes to remain anonymous, tipped her $1,000 on his $82.26 tab.
"He asked me about the cost and how I planned on paying for this and basically I said, 'If I have to I'll sell my car.' My materials are not worth my dog's life. A lot of people think that's silly, but my family comes first and my dog is a part of that," she said.
When Summitt saw the bill she ran out, trying to stop them, saying it was just too much.
"My eyes immediately filled up with tears. I told him it was too generous and I couldn't take it, but he hugged me and I thanked him. He said 'no big deal' and gave me a pound," she said.
After sharing her story on Facebook and CNN IReport, the story was picked up nationally with spots on "Ellen" and "Fox and Friends."
Summitt said the story "went viral overnight," and she woke up to more than 400,000 emails wishing Tucker a speedy recovery.
"It's been crazy and so great. I'm a very positive person, and there's so many bad things in the news so I wanted to tell people about this random act of kindness," she said. "My message from the beginning was that a stranger went out of his way just to
make me happy, and that's cool."
Following the media attention, Summitt received offers for more donations, but she is turning them down.
Redirecting them to donate to Pibbles N More Animal Rescue, a Pit Bull advocacy group she volunteers for, she hopes her story inspires others to take an active role in caring for animals in need.
Both Mona and Tucker were rescued by Summitt, as well as two twin cats after she lost Queenie, a Pit Bull who became handicapped at 10 years old and needed a wheelchair.
"Wouldn't you do the same thing? Either you're an animal lover or you're not. My dog is 3 years old; he's a baby. He deserves the best life he can have because they live a quarter of the life that we do," she said of people who question the money she's spent.
She'd anxiously awaited the removal of Tucker's staples today, but he got a clean bill of health from Veterinarian Medical Doctor Ryan Epple of Harmony Animal Hospital Emergency Services, and a green light to return running and playing in the yard.
Unfortunately, Epple said, Tucker's story is all too common among both dogs and cats who accidentally swallow something either too wide or too long for them to pass.
He suggests getting rid of toys or objects that pets commonly swallow, like small balls, plastic squeakers from toys and even string. Signs that a pet has a foreign body stuck inside include coughing, choking, vomiting, constipation and reduced appetite or weight loss.
Now with Tucker back at home, Summitt said the experience has meant so much to the whole family.
"There are so many nice people out there," she said of those who've reached out to her wishing Tucker well. "We really got lucky."
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