As he stood on the docks at River Forest, Tom Kissel looked forward to a fine day of boating with his 15-year-old Pomeranian/Jack Russell dog Tater Tot. Suddenly, a swell came from the Allegheny River, and Kissel was knocked out cold, and he fell and sunk into the river. Tater Tot, knowing something was wrong, immediately jumped in after the 76-year-old man. But what can he do? He's only a tiny dog.
Luckily, there was a veteran cardiac care nurse who noticed the dog struggling in the river. The nurse then saw Kissel underwater.
Bystanders near the scene immediately helped pull the nearly lifeless Kissel out of the river, and Mary Jo Lender, the nurse, administered CPR.
If not for Tater Tot and the nurse, Kissel would no longer have seen the light of day.
Since the incident, Kissel has recovered about "90 percent" and has begun boating once again.
"I owe my life to them," Kissel says about his dog and Lender.
(All Images: Joyce Hanz/ Tribune-Review)
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