Patient, beloved pet reunited after car accident
By SUZANNE KYDLAND ADY
Of The Gazette Staff
Published on Wednesday, April 19, 2006.
Last modified on 4/19/2006 at 12:17 am
Two years ago, Devanie Swier spotted an emaciated dog on the side of the road while driving through Arizona. Swier and friends pulled over and picked up both the canine and the two black puppies with her. Without a doubt, the animals survived because of Swier. Now, this "Mama Dog," officially known as Marmalade, is returning the favor.
On April 1, Swier, her boyfriend Greg and Mama Dog were returning from a trip to Denver. The couple was headed back to Missoula where Swier, 21, is a junior majoring in photojournalism at the University of Montana.
Swier doesn't remember much about what happened just outside of Reed Point. Greg was driving, she said, and she had fallen asleep until she heard the car hit the rumble strip. Swier woke up to her boyfriend overcorrecting on the road. Their car hit the ditch and rolled several times.
"Greg was wearing his seatbelt, but he was ejected," Swier said. "I had unbuckled just my lap belt when I went to sleep, but I ended up crawling out the window.
"Someone must have called 911 right away, because all of a sudden there were people everywhere."
Swier was HELP-Flighted to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, and Greg was transported via airplane and released from the hospital that same night.
Mama Dog was seen running in the opposite direction of the accident.
Swier was frantic when she realized her dog was gone.
"I was heartbroken," she said. "I remember at the accident, I kept asking, 'Where's my dog?' and becoming kind of hysterical."
Searching for Mama Dog
Word of Mama Dog got out in Reed Point, Swier said, and the sheriff -- along with the game warden and a group of volunteers -- searched for the lost pet. Flyers were distributed throughout the area.
Still hospitalized with several spine and pelvis fractures and "a lot of bruises everywhere," Swier was left wondering if her dog was even alive.
"She really was devastated," said Swier's mother, Tammy. "It was the one thing that would really set her off."
Three days after the accident, Mama Dog was finally spotted. But getting anywhere near her was another matter.
That Wednesday, Greg made the 60-mile trip from Billings back to Reed Point in hopes of picking up the dog. When he spotted Mama Dog, she put her head down and ran away.
"We can laugh at that now," said Tammy. "We say Mama Dog was probably thinking, 'I'm not getting back into a car with you,' about Greg."
Although he couldn't catch the animal, Swier's boyfriend did leave Mama Dog's blanket on the porch of a woman who lives on the outskirts of Reed Point -- and where the dog had been seen sleeping.
The next day, he left an article of Swier's clothing, hoping Mama Dog would at least be comforted by her owner's familiar scent.
The dog was eating food left out for her each night, but she still allowed no one close.
"We had bonded right from the beginning, and she was always a very loyal dog," Swier said of her pet. "I know she was just waiting for me."
That thought only inspired Swier to work towards her recovery. In order to leave while under the hospital's care, she needed to get through several tests to prove she could travel. Eight days after the wreck, Swier received a pass so she could return to the scene.
Reunited
About 200 feet from the porch where Mama Dog had been sleeping, Swier spotted her and yelled her name. Once.
"She just came bolting to me and jumped in before my mom even had time to stop the car," Swier said. "I was just bawling."
Mama Dog and Swier have been nearly inseparable ever since. St. Vincent Healthcare has a Canine Visitation program which allows the dog to be in Swier's hospital room during the day for therapeutic visits.
In the evenings, staff members helped find a nearby kennel where Mama Dog could stay.
Dog and owner are healing nicely. Mama Dog suffered only from a few lonely nights and some road rash on her front paws.
Swier, who was released from the hospital April 12, is now in Ennis with her father and stepmother. She has physical, cognitive and occupational therapy in front of her, and will have to accept "incompletes" in her college classes for the semester.
"But there are no braces, no casts and no surgeries. All her fractures are stable," said Tammy. "The doctors all said if Devanie got out in three weeks, she'd be doing great.
"Instead, she's able to leave after 12 days. She never would have recovered this quickly if it weren't for Mama Dog."
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nice picture
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