Greensboro woman’s dog helps save her life
George and Shirley Marietta pet their dog, Hank, while Shirley recovers at Golden LivingCenter in Waynesburg. The Jack Russell terrier has helped to save the lives of three family members.
Shirley Marietta, 67, of Greensboro, hugs her dog Hank after he saved her life last month.
He has a reputation for saving lives, and his family believes he has a superpower to sniff out when something is wrong or when someone is ill.
At 18 years old, he has saved three lives by alerting family members of a problem by jumping up and down and barking as loudly as possible.
His name is Hank Williams Jr., and he is a Jack Russell terrier that belongs to the Marietta family of Greensboro.
He recently helped to save Shirley Marietta’s life by alerting relatives when she suffered a medical emergency at home last month.
“She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him,” said George Marietta, Shirley’s husband, as he sat next to his recovering wife of 45 years in the Golden LivingCenter in Waynesburg. “He saved her life.”
On Oct. 30, George and Shirley sat in their home watching a movie when Shirley fell asleep on the couch. Sitting in the recliner next to her, George soon followed.
George was awakened about 4:30 a.m. by the small black, brown and white dog jumping and pacing up and down and barking loudly at him.
“He just wouldn’t stop barking and carrying on,” George said.
As George sat up, Hank jumped on top of where Shirley was laying and continued hysterically. When George turned on the light, he knew something was wrong with his wife.
“She was laying there unconscious and barely breathing,” George said.
He later learned if the ambulance had been called minutes later, Shirley, 67, would never have made it to the hospital in time. Doctors at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., said she had suffered a heart attack.
Although Shirley sees herself as “a mess,” both her husband and her daughter’s boyfriend, Anthony Zites, disagreed fervently, calling her “a fighter.” And they all give credit to the small dog on the rehabilitation bed that cannot sit still long enough for a photo.
“But this isn’t the first time he has done something like this,” Zites said.
In the past, Hank has alerted George about two other family members having severe health issues in the middle of the night.
The first was with George’s father, who was choking and spitting up blood in the middle of the night. He knew his father was not in very good health, but George would not have awakened to help him unless Hank had warned him.
The second time Hank was a hero was with Shirley’s sister, Susan Richards, who experienced a massive seizure in the middle of the night last December. Just like with Shirley, Hank ran up to George and would not stop barking until George followed him into Susan’s bedroom.
Meanwhile, Shirley is set to make a full recovery, and her family hopes she will be home in a few weeks in time to celebrate Thanksgiving.
“He is a good dog,” Shirley said as she placed Hank on her lap and he tried to give her a kiss. “There is no better feeling than what I felt when they told me what he had done for me just like he did for others.”