Ordinarily, when someone thinks of the word “fail,” they associate it with a negative result. But when it comes to a doggie “foster fail,” there’s nothing negative about it. You gain something incredible!
This is especially true of “foster fail Gracie.” Not only has she turned out to be a fantastic addition to her new family, but she’s proven to be a hero dog as well.
It was in the early hours of a chilly December morning when Emily, the eldest daughter in the Haegeman family, was awakened by Gracie’s panic-stricken barking. Emily was the first of the six sleeping family members to be roused by the Labradoodle and Border Collie mix.
Almost immediately after opening her eyes, Emily knew something was wrong. So she started screaming at the top of her lungs.
Emily’s screams are what roused her father, Devin. Within a mere six minutes of waking him, Devin had called 911, helped his sons to safety, and joined his wife and daughters outside.
Luckily, he was able to immediately spring into action because less than ten minutes after everyone was outside safely, the laundry room was completely engulfed, and huge flames were shooting into the sky. It would have been absolutely impossible to help all of his children to safety in time.
“I woke up. My clock said 5:01 a.m. The 911 call says 5:02 a.m. By 5:06 a.m., I had everyone out of the house, and at 5:08 a.m., as the fire department arrived, the wall that was in the laundry room fell off, and the fire flashed,” recalled Devin.
Gracie saving her family was nothing short of a miracle. Ordinarily, she sleeps in the bedroom with her mom and dad. But as fate would have it, she didn’t make it in before they closed their door for the night.
If it weren’t for Gracie waking up her family at almost the exact moment she did, it likely would have been a greater tragedy. The fire had started in the laundry room and engulfed their home so quickly; it’s incredible they all survived.
“So the dog we were supposed to foster and fell in love with became a member of our family. She’s gentle and kind and brilliant. And this morning, she woke Emily up, and literally saved our lives.”
Once all the human family members were safely outside, Devin noticed that Gracie was nowhere to be found. Miraculously, he managed to rush back inside, find Gracie hiding under a bed, and get them both to safety right before their house was completely engulfed in flames.
While Devin shared that running back inside and saving Gracie resulted in him having carbon monoxide poisoning, he claimed it was worth it because of what Gracie did for their family that day.
Toledo, United States.
