For those of you who do not know, Renee Downs was in a terrible car
accident last night in North Carolina. She was taken by ambulance to
the hospital but was released this morning. She is bruised and cut
but is okay. Her car is totaled.
I just got off the phone with Renee (Friday afternoon). Her mother and
sister are now with her and they are off to get some Totally Ferret for
furkids, who do not like the vet clinic cat food.
Here's what happened with Renee's accident. She was driving in the slow
lane with a vehicle in front of her. That vehicle suddenly jumped into
the left hand land and Renee then saw a car (I don't know if it was
totally stopped or just going very, very slow) right in front of her
and she had to veer off to the right to avoid plowing into the rear
of that vehicle. Her tire hit something as she veered off and her car
rolled. As her car rolled, all of her windows blew out and Gandalf and
his entire cage went out a window. The cage was decimated. And Gandalf
died (her DMK boy). EMT's and firemen from the Big Marsh Volunteer
Fire Dept, Station 2 and a tow truck (the tow truck driver is also a
fire department volunteer) responded immediately. The tow truck driver
worked tirelessly to find all the ferrets and little Gandalf's body --
funny thing is Renee had two frozen ferrets with her that she was
bringing home to bury and he found those for her too so you can imagine
how confused he was. He has all three bodies in his freezer on hold for
Renee. The EMTs brought the ferrets in the ambulance with Renee to the
hospital (which they are not supposed to do, but they did it anyway).
The vet came TO THE HOSPITAL AT NIGHT, to pick up Renee's ferrets and
bring them back to the clinic for treatment. A Robeson County Animal
Cruelty Investigator (they do not have an animal control officer in
Robeson County) stayed with the ferrets in the emergency room while
Renee was being treated (she was going to transport them to the vet for
Renee, but the vet came right to the hospital himself). And last, but
certainly not least, Diane Campbell, who drove three hours to get to
Renee to help and be with her in her time of need. That's a lot of
small town hospitality for a stranger that's just passing through.
Many people have been wondering what they can do for Renee. Well, Renee
doesn't need anything right now -- she's all taken care of. But she
wanted to relay the story of so many people (total strangers) that
helped her get through this terrible ordeal. Renee would be grateful if
folks could send thank you notes, letters of commendation or donations
to the Big Marsh Volunteer Fire Department, Station 2, the EMT's or
Diane Campbell's shelter building fund. The EMS department told me they
don't release the names of the EMTs but in this case he would since
they do not get thank you's very often and that they would really
appreciate it.
TOW TRUCK DRIVER
Richard Durden of Richard's Towing in ST. Pauls, NC -- tow truck driver
that worked tirelessly to find Gandalf and the other two ferrets for
Renee. He says that whatever he gets from her insurance company for
towing her vehicle he will donate to the Big Marsh Volunteer Fire
Department.
Richard's Towing
759 E Broad St
St Pauls, NC 28384
(910) 865-9220
FIREMEN
Big Marsh Volunteer Fire Department, Station 2
644 E. Great Marsh Church Road
St. Pauls, NC 28384
EMTs
Brian Batton and Natonya Pulley
EMS Phone: (910) 671-3250
EMS Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 1181
Lumberton, N.C. 28359
THE VET:
Dr. Michael Deese
Bairds Animal Hospital
3169 E Elizabethtown Rd
Lumberton, NC 28358
(910) 739-4998
ANIMAL CRUELTY INVESTIGATOR:
Katherine Floyd
Robeson County Animal Cruelty Investigator
910-608-2317
(I tried to find an address online and tried calling the Robeson County
Health Department, but kept getting voicemail).
Diane Campbell:
Ferret Guardian Rescue Haven, Inc.
Natural Area Fundraiser
P.O. Box 2160
Statesville, NC 28687
Fundraiser website is http://www.fgrh.org/ .
So drop a card of thanks in the mail to these folks, pick up the phone
and give them a call or send them cookies or something nice to brighten
their day. A donation to the fire department would be nice since
they're all volunteer (Renee says she's donating an oxygen mask for
cats to them) or send them a gift certificate for a local pizza joint
(Zachary's Pizza and Restaurant, 202 East Broad Street, Saint Pauls,
NC 28384 -- 910-865-3531 -- believe it or not there is NO DOMINOS in
St. Pauls...), or donate to Diane Campbell's new shelter fund. Take a
moment to tell these people that we THANK THEM and how appreciative we
all are for them taking such good care of Renee AND the ferrets.
P.S. I called Richard Durden (since he is also a fireman) and asked if
the guys would actually eat cookies and the like if people sent them.
He said heck ya!
Lisa
[Posted in FML 5966]
|
