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Teen Saves Stray Dog's Life By Performing Chest Compressions

Teen Saves Stray Dog's Life By Performing Chest Compressions

The trainee vet sprung into action after the pooch collapsed outside his house

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A teenager stepped in to save a stray dog that had suffered a heart attack, by performing chest compressions.

Lucas Martins, 19, is a trainee vet and happened to be in the right place at the right time for the poor stray pooch.

Martins saw the collapsed dog lying on the ground outside his house in the municipality of Piranhas, in Brazil and noticed that it wasn't breathing.

Although he has no proof, Martins thinks the dog may have been poisoned.

He said: "I was on a break from my online classes when I heard a commotion outside my house. I saw a crowd gathered around a dog that was lying motionless on the floor. No one could work out why it was dying.

"I grabbed some gloves and ran to help him. I soon realised he had probably eaten something poisonous because something like this happened to my dog before and the symptoms were similar."

In footage filmed at the scene, Martins can be seen cleaning the dog's airway and rinsing some vomit from its mouth, before turning it onto its back and rigorously applying pressure over its heart and rubbing its paws to help the blood circulate.

Martins carried out the actions for around five minutes while locals looked on.

Lucas Martins/FocusOn News

It seemed as though the poorly dog was beyond help but Martins' efforts eventually did the trick - the pooch took in a huge gulp of air before jumping to its feet to make a shaky attempt at walking.

Being able to save the dog has made the teen even more certain he's on the correct career path.

He added: "I realised there and then that I had chosen the right profession. It felt incredible to have brought him back from certain death.

"Even though it was a very distressing moment and I wasn't sure if I would succeed, I wasn't prepared to give up for one second."

After his emergency intervention, Martins stayed with the injured animal and fed it charcoal to aid its recovery.

"The charcoal helped to expel the poison from the pup's body," he explained. "After that I continued treating him with food and water so he would recover and have the strength to stay well on the streets where he lives.

"I did my best because he didn't appear to have an owner and I was concerned to make sure he had the best chance of survival.

"I hope that my actions show how vulnerable animals can be when they are mistreated and that we should always remember that they feel pain just like we do."

However, Martins did add that seeing the dog spring back to life left him too excited to go back to studying.

"When the pup suddenly sprang to life, I was elated and couldn't concentrate on my studies for the rest of that day," he said, laughing.

Featured Image Credit: Lucas Martins/FocusOn News

Topics: World News, Animals, Dogs