Meet Larry the lab. He’s the luckiest dog in York.
Larry, who is six years old, ‘died’ after getting a ball stuck in his throat. But a hero police officer gave him CPR – and brought Larry back to life.
The traumatic events have led his owner, Kayleigh Rickell, to launch an initiative highlighting the dangers some pet toys pose.
The story began when Kayleigh’s father Paul Hartley took Larry for a walk on Tang Hall field on Sunday morning (February 26).
As usual, Paul threw a ball and Larry kept it in his mouth. Paul then threw a stick expecting the daft lab to drop the ball, but instead he tried to pick up the stick as well.
The ball then lodged in the back of his throat causing him to choke.
Heart-stopping moment
“Seconds later, Larry collapsed,” said Kayleigh. “My dad and two lovely ladies also on the field with their dogs tried so hard to remove the ball from the back of his throat, but they couldn’t move it.”
One of the women ran to the home of a policeman who lives nearby to see if he could help. The officer tried to dislodge the ball but couldn’t.
Paul dashed home to get his car to take Larry to the vets. While he was away “Larry died,” said Kayleigh. It was a terrible moment – but luckily not the end of the story.
Then, this amazing policeman performed CPR on Larry and brought him back to life!
The officer had saved their “nutty, loving labrador”.
“We are so relieved and feel so lucky to have Larry still with us,” Kayleigh said.
“We are forever in debt to the policeman and the two ladies that tried to help.”
Dangerous toys
The nightmare led Kayleigh to launch the Larry the Lab Initiative.
This Facebook group aims to make pet owners aware of the dangers of some pet toys. Kayleigh said:
It is innocent choices like this that unknowingly can cause so much pain to pet owners.
Other people have shared similar stories of their dogs choking on smaller balls or being hurt trying to catch or fetch sticks.
“You should never throw sticks for dogs,” posted Caitlin White.
“They are so so dangerous and balls should always be too large for them to fully get inside their mouth – just big enough so they can carry them.”
Within hours of being set up the Facebook group had amassed more than 100 members. and Kayleigh’s original post about Larry has been shared more than 1,000 times.
And Larry himself has made a complete recovery.
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