In the midst of a raging fire that was quickly destroying their home, a family from Walmer waited with bated breath as paramedics at the scene took their unresponsive dog into the ambulance, and managed to resuscitate and save their pet’s life.
Jaco and Yolandé Buys lived through their worst nightmare when their house in Lloyd Road went up in flames last week, causing their beloved yorkie-poodle, Daisy, to suffer severe smoke inhalation and lose consciousness.
In a state of concern and panic, Jaco rushed to the paramedics and said their dog didn’t make it.
Yolandé said that the dog was immediately taken into the ambulance, where they refused to give up before she started reacting again.
“We were so scared and all over the place that I only saw afterwards on a video what really happened in the ambulance. They put the oxygen mask on Daisy’s face, and that is what she needed to stay alive. They gave her CPR and resuscitated her. The first thing that we saw afterwards was her tail starting to move,” Yolandé explained.
The couple, who has moved in with neighbours until they can find a rental home, said that they still have no idea what caused the fire and only know that it started on the stoep.
According to her, they were getting ready for bed when Jaco heard a clicking sound and saw clouds of smoke on the stairs. He immediately told his wife that the house was on fire and grabbed their son, Zaiden, and Yolandé’s mother, heading downstairs and out of the house.
Yolandé said that one of the three dogs, Rocket, followed them outside but in the chaos that followed, everyone was confused and didn’t know where all the dogs were.
“Jaco asked me if I had all the dogs and I said no. We found our poodle, Roxy, but Daisy was nowhere to be found. Jaco went back in and found Daisy on our bed, and she just made these little sounds but she was unresponsive and had already inhaled so much smoke.
“He took her to the paramedics, because he thought that she was already dead and asked them to help her. At this stage, they had given oxygen to my mother and a blanket to cover our son because he was in shock. They didn’t give up until she was responsive and now it is like nothing ever happened, she is 100% herself again,” said Yolandé with a smile.
“The ambulance services were amazing and they did a fantastic job. One wouldn’t think that this would be done for an animal, but they went out of their way to save our dog’s life.”
Yolandé said that although they are all unharmed, they lost everything in the fire. The roof of the upper floor has collapsed, and the ground floor has extensive water damage. They will have to rebuild the entire house.
“It was a truly horrible experience. You almost can’t fathom that something like this has happened to you. Your whole life is in your house and that is where you feel safe.
“While we stood there watching everything go up in flames, we felt so helpless because there was absolutely nothing that we could do. We are just so grateful for the paramedics, the firefighters and even the residents in the street and their support.”
Bester Emergency Medical Services, who attended to the scene, confirmed that they had assessed the dog and noticed that it was in critical condition.
A senior medic, George Knoesen, performed CPR along with some oxygen therapy and other basic treatment.
Although this may seem like an isolated incident, it was just six months ago that the exact same thing happened to the Buys family’s neighbour, Sureshni Moodliar, and her dog, Hiro.
Moodliar, director at Gray Moodliar Inc. Attorneys, said that on the morning of September 28, 2022, a part of her house went up in flames as well, with her dog presumed dead and her brother, Suren, seriously injured after her fridge had exploded.
“I was in Cape Town and my brother was in bed upstairs, with Hiro asleep downstairs. Hiro actually saved my brother’s life because he barked at the bedroom door to get my brother’s attention, and when he opened the door he eventually found Hiro motionless, sprawled on the floor, surrounded by smoke,” said Moodliar.
“He thought that Hiro was dead.”
She explained that there was no way for Suren to escape, so he jumped from the upstairs balcony and broke his pelvis.
“It took him two months to learn how to walk again. I saw the messages about a fire at my house on the WhatsApp groups and called my brother. He told me that he had jumped from the balcony and couldn’t move. He also said that we had unfortunately lost Hiro.
“I was devastated and burst into tears. He said that Hiro’s eyes were open but he was unresponsive, so he was gone.”
She added that when the firefighters came, they heard the two-year-old Weimeraner bark and realised he was still alive.
“The paramedics gave him oxygen and that saved him. He was in a coma for three days, and the vet said that there was a 50/50 chance of survival.”
Hiro, which means “abundance” in Japanese, is now back to his old self and happily made friends with the PE Express reporter.
