JOHN KALE

Ok, so let me tell you a little bit about this puppy. It has an amazing story!

It started one afternoon on the soccer field. I was out playing soccer with some of the local children before Bible School. The hope was that we could get them to come with us to Bible School when it started. The plan hadn't worked the day before, but we thought we would try again. As we were playing, a little boy walked by carrying a dog. I didn't think much of it, just thought the little boy was excited about his new puppy. Some of the children ran over to see it and then came back and rejoined the game; never saying a word about the puppy.

About 10 minutes later I saw the boy walk by again. This time I begin to wander what was going on. One of the youth yelled for me to come look at the dog. I ran over and to look, thinking I was just going to see a new puppy and an excited child. When I got there, I realized that the boy wasn't excited. His little puppy had been bitten across the neck by another dog. (If you look closely at the second photo, you can see the scar)

My heart went out to the little boy. He was so worried about his dog that he was just holding him and walking around, not knowing what to do. It broke my heart. (To really grasp this next part, you have to understand a little bit about me...Sometimes I speak before I think...This would be one of those times) I told one of the youth (who spoke Spanish) to tell the little boy to take the puppy over to the medical clinic that the church had set up (The church that was on the trip does a medical clinic in Matamoros every year. They had brought a doctor and several nurses with them...I will tell you more about it later)
My only thought was...lets help this puppy and make this boy feel better.

So off the boy went with his puppy to the medical clinic. But not just the boy, all the children who had been playing soccer with us went too! So I panic...I jump in the van I had driven and try to beat them to the clinic to warn the doctor of the approaching mob. I walk in and say to him "Doc, you are probably going to kill me, but there is a little boy on his way over here with a puppy." Needless to say, he thinks I am joking. But just a minute or two later, in walks the boy and all his friends. The Doctor was overwhelmed. He was with a family in the procedure room, the waiting room was full, and here stands a boy with a puppy.

Are you getting this picture in your head? Kind of a funny scene don't you think? All of this craziness was my fault too...I just knew this guy was going hate me for life!

Well a few minutes passed and the Doctor decides to go ahead and bring the puppy in ahead of the patients in the waiting room. As the boy is walking in, the Doctor looks at me and tells me he is nervous because he has never worked on a dog or any other animal before. He cleaned the wound and decided that it needed stitches. He tried to give the puppy a shot of Novocaine but he couldn't get the puppy to sit still log enough to administer the injection. As you can imagine, the puppy was not happy. He was yelping and trying to get away the entire time. It was more than the little boy could handle, he ran outside crying.

So the nurse put the puppy on her lap and held him down as the doctor put two stitches in its neck. When he finished he looked at his nurse and asked "can we give this dog antibiotics?" After a little discussion, they decided to give the dog amoxacilin (sp). I prepared the medicine and we brought the little boy back in so he could see that his puppy was ok. The doctor showed the little boy how to give the dog the medicine he then told the boy, "give him 2 1/2 cc of the medicine 3 times a day" The little boy watched and listened and assured the doctor that he would do it.

The doctor then asked the boy if he could bring the puppy back the next day for a "check up" and the boy said he was going somewhere and wouldn't be able to make it. The boy was smiling from ear to ear at this point and thanked the doctor over and over for "saving" his dog. We finally got him to leave and we all celebrated a little and applauded the Doctor for his outstanding work. He was thrilled about the situation (which thrilled me!!!). He remarked that it was the highlight of his week. So the story ends here right?

Wrong!!!! The best part is still to come. The next day I walk into the clinic (which was at the same building as Bible School) and I notice one of the youth holding a dog. Not just any dog, our little medical miracle! So I inquire as to why the puppy is there when the boy was supposed to be out of town...I thought the dog had ran away. The youth that were standing there told me to turn around, and you won't believe what I saw. There gathered among all the Bible School children was the little boy, and guess who was with him...all his friends. They had come to Bible School!!! These were all the children from the soccer field that we had been trying to get to come all week long. I was blown away! The Doctors act of kindness had a dramatic impact on that boys life and the lives of his friends. A little love goes a long way!