Man Dies Trying To Rescue His Dog
The Indy Channel ^ | May 10, 2006 | AP
GRAYSON COUNTY, Ky. -- A Kentucky man died after jumping into a pond trying to save the family pet.
The tragedy took place in Grayson County last week, Louisville, Ky., television station WLKY reported.
Eric Barclay's own loved ones admitted they wouldn't have tried to do the same thing, but they also said that Barclay was the kind of person who would do what he did last week, trying to save a dog named Buster.
"Eric would do anything he could for anybody, and I guess Buster was no exception," said Barclay's uncle, Tedd O'Neal. "The dog liked Eric and Eric was crazy about him."
But Buster had a stroke recently, and often became disoriented ever since, so Barclay tried to keep a close eye on him, WLKY reported. One evening at dusk, Barclay and his uncle couldn't find Buster, so they went searching.
"Next thing I know, Eric said, 'Yeah, that's Buster,'" O'Neal said.
The pair found Buster swimming around in circles in the middle of a neighbor's pond, and without hesitation, Barclay jumped in to rescue him. But he soon needed to be rescued himself.
"He starts yelling, 'Help me, help me,'" O'Neal said.
Barclay was known as a strong swimmer, but his family said perhaps the frigid weather might may have caused him to have a heart attack. A neighbor went in after him, but then Barclay began to pull him under.
"When we got there, my nephew was already out there with him and he hollered for me, 'He's drowning me,'" Alford Decker said. "I just hit the pond and it was cold water -- real cold."
Decker said they were able to get Barclay and his nephew to shore.
"It was panic for a minute but we knew what we had to do," Decker said. "We had to get him out."
The group went back in for the dog, but for Barclay, it was too late.
"Eric was gone when he got out of the water," O'Neal said.
Neighbors tried CPR, and so did EMS workers when they arrived, but Barclay was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital a short time later.
"I would have let the dog drown, if it would have been me," O'Neal said.
Barclay's niece, Tanya Barclay, said you had to know her uncle to understand that the lengths to which he tried to save the family pet surprised no one.
"I'm proud of him," she said. "He did something good. He tried to save the dog's life. A lot of people would say, 'It's just a dog,' but that just wasn't Eric."
Buster survived, but later was put down because he was in such bad shape.
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"Eulogy of The Dog"
By: George G. Vest
Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us---those who we trust with our happiness and our good name---may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action.
The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its clouds upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world---the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous---is his dog.
Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side.
He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
-Compiled from eye witness accounts of a trial summary delivered by George Graham Vest in 1870 at the old courthouse in Warrensburg, MO during a trial about the shooting of a farmer's dog named "Old Drum" by a neighbor." |
