Cancer-Sniffing Dog Saves Owner's Life

LAKE OF EGYPT — Dogs are often called man’s best friend, and that certainly proved true for 19-year-old Ricky Hatfield. The Lake of Egypt teen says he owes his life to his 2-year-old retriever, Maverick.The pair share a close bond which was strengthened earlier this year when the well-trained K-9 acted out of the ordinary.“He headbutted me right in the groin,” said Hatfield. “That is something he would never do, but he put his head down and hit me and then backed off and then looked at me for a minute, and I was down on the ground for a little while.”The injury got so bad Hatfield was forced to go to the emergency room.“It swelled up just a little bit, and the swelling wouldn’t go down,” explained Hatfield. “We had some ultrasounds done, and the lady that did the ultrasound said it looked like a mass.”Hatfield had not noticed the mass before the injury, but doctors diagnosed him with stage two testicular cancer.“I was speechless because I’m 19 and you don’t think that stuff like this can happen to you,” said Hatfield. “I’m lucky enough to have found it at the state it was at because without him it could have gotten a lot worse than this.”Hatfield says he will find out if he needs chemo later this month, but doctors say his prognosis is positive and he is expected to make a full recovery.Hatfield believes Maverick was trying to warn him about his illness. The dog began acting strangely about a month ago. That’s around the time doctors believe Hatfield first became sick.Local veterinarian Dr. Jim Parker believes that dog’s can be trained to sniff out terminal illnesses.“There is no scientific study that can prove it but certainly those types of coincidences happen enough that you got to wonder if there is not more to it than just purely coincidence,” said Parker.For Hatfield there is no wondering. He says he owes his life to Maverick.“There is nothing better than having your first real dog that actually kind of saves your life,” said Hatfield. Source: http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/Cancer-Sniffing-Dog-Saves-Owners-Life–191296121.html

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