Melody Kinser
Diesel receives some tender loving care from Grayson, Carter and Trevor Brightwell on Saturday. The black labrador retriever miraculously survived a jump from the Atlee overpass on Thursday. He suffered collapsed lungs and a fracture to his right front leg.
Two women come to Diesel’s rescue after motorist’s horn sends him over wall
Published: August 27, 2008
By Melody Kinser
A dog may be man’s best friend, but to Diesel, a black labrador, a woman might hold that distinction.
The 2-year-old, part of the Steve and Michelle Brightwell family, survived a frightening fall off the Atlee overpass on Thursday. Two women came to his rescue in ways his owners will never forget.
Michelle recalled the terrifying events leading up to and following Diesel’s ordeal. She had let him out of the house to “go to the bathroom” around 9:30 a.m.
Without her knowledge, one of her three sons—Grayson, Carter and Trevor—had taken Diesel’s collar and identification tag off him.
After about an hour she became concerned when he hadn’t returned and after two she said she was “really concerned.” She described him as “a really lazy dog,” adding, “he doesn’t venture off very much at all.”
Two hours had passed, so Michelle decided to post some flyers around the neighborhood. “By 1 or 2 [p.m.], I was putting out the fires,” admitting she was “quite upset.”
She headed out to get more materials for flyers when she decided to stop by the Hanover Green Veterinary Clinic. That was about 5 p.m. She had already called Hanover County Animal Control, and was told there were no reports of a black lab being spotted.
She went into the clinic and asked if she could post a flyer about Diesel. The receptionist asked her when she lost her dog. “Just a few hours ago,” Michelle responded. She was asked to wait a moment while the receptionist went into the exam area.
“It’s a black lab, correct?” she asked upon her return. “Hanover County Animal Control brought us a black lab a while ago. We have this dog, take a look at it, but don’t get excited.”
Michelle said she was “already crying again” when she “turned the corner and there he was in one of those crates. I said his name and his tail started wagging.”
When she found Diesel undergoing intravenous (IV) therapy, she immediately asked what happened to him. She learned Pat Coats was returning to work after lunch when she noticed traffic had slowed on the Atlee overpass. She told the clinic staff that she had seen two dogs and the motorist in front of her blew the horn.
The noise scared the two dogs and, as Michelle shared what she had been told, “Diesel flipped out, jumped on the concrete wall and dove off down to Interstate 295.” She was quick to point out, though, that he did not get struck by any vehicles.
Michelle said she was told Coats wouldn’t look and said it was an image she’ll “never get over as long as she lives.”
The other dog placed its front paws on the on the wall when Coats stopped traffic in an attempt to get it into her car. “He took off running toward the hospital,” Michelle said.
Coats called 911 for Animal Control to report “a dog just jumped off the overpass at Atlee.”
Stacey Waller of Carrollton was driving to Waynesboro along I-295 when she saw Diesel wounded on the highway. When an Animal Control officer responded, Diesel was considered “too hurt and in shock” to be moved from Waller’s vehicle, so she drove him to the veterinary clinic in Mechanicsville.
From the local vet clinic, Diesel was taken to the Virginia Referral and Critical Care Animal Hospital in Goochland. “They are awesome,” Michelle said of the staff.
Diesel had suffered collapsed lungs and a small fracture on his right front leg in the 1:20 p.m. incident.
“Mrs. Coats is an absolute angel,” Michelle said on Saturday. We will forever be indebted to her.” Michelle learned Coats had offered to accept financial responsibility for Diesel’s care if the owners were not located.
As her sons cradled their pet in their arms, Michelle called him “our super dog.”
