A young man with a prosthetic leg now has an unbreakable bond with a dog who shares a similar condition.
In August 2013, Sam Sartain lost his leg in an ATV accident. He underwent several surgeries that took more and more of his right leg. Sartain was emaciated, on a feeding tube and had a skin graft in February.
A few months later, Sartain received a fresh start with a prosthetic leg.
“It’s cool because when I went back to school, not only did I have that respect as a person, but as an athlete too,” Sartain said.
While he was adjusting to his new lifestyle, so was a stray Dachshund named Pooh, who was hit by a car. Pooh lost his hind right leg.
“The thing that was similar between me and Pooh (the dog), was the complete top layer of skin was just torn off. You can see the bones and everything," Sartain said.
Miami-Dade Animal Services took Pooh in and cleaned him up. They then reached out to the Dachshund Recue South Florida, which helped raise $5,000 in two days to help save Pooh.
After receiving enough money to save Pooh, he had to have his leg amputated. Sam’s mother Judy Sartain found the dog on the rescue’s Facebook page and knew that Pooh had to be theirs.
“As a mom you search for any resources that can help and animals are very therapeutic and they give you a reason to get up. It’s time to get up, it’s time to take the dog out, time to feed the dog. They give you unconditional love,” Judy Sartain said.
Sam Sartain said the first moment he met Pooh, it was indescribable.
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“It’s a weird feeling, because he looked at me and he realized I guess that we had the same situation and he immediately ran over towards me,” Sartain said.
It’s a bond that only Sam and Pooh can share.
