BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THERE is a saying that “Dog is a man’s best friend”, and this quote holds true and was witnessed by many people today (Oct. 21) as a brown-coloured bitch sat next to her master as he lay dead on the dirt road that leads to Fountain Estate in Stapleton Village, St. Peters.
At about 1:00 p.m. today, this media house responded to a call which indicated that the lifeless body of a man was seen lying on a dirt road in the vicinity of Stapleton Extension.
On arrival at the scene, SKNVibes observed that a unit from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Police Officers and a large number of residents of the area were present, while the motionless body of a man, covered with a white sheet, was lying on the northern side of the dirt road with his dog seated by his head.
The man, whose name was only given as Bunny, was said to be a resident of Lower Monkey Hill in St. Peters.
One of the man’s nieces, who was also at the scene, said he was ailing and was walking with two individuals at the time when he fell down on the dirt road.
He was pronounced dead by Medical District Officer Dr. Mervyn Laws who was summoned to the scene shortly before the body was removed under police escort by Jenkins Funeral Home.
Some residents of the area are of the view that the ambulance took too long after summoned.
“The man fell down shortly after mid-day and we immediately called for the ambulance. At the time when the call was made, he was still breathing, but the ambulance took between 25 to 30 minutes to get here. If they had arrived five minutes earlier, they could have rendered first aid and maybe saved his life,” one resident said.
Another resident, who professed to have some degree of medical knowledge, claimed that even if the EMS had arrived five minutes earlier, “The man would still have died, because they came unprepared and did not walk with an automated external defibrillator.”
An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.
All the while, even when Dr. Laws was examining the body, the dog remained steadfast by her master’s side.
At times, she was seen moving around in circles and seemed annoyed when the undertakers had placed the body in the hearse and closed the rear door.
Everybody’s eyes were on the dog as she went to the hearse, stood on her hind legs and peered through every window in search of her master, while making mournful sounds.
The dog was eventually placed in the rear of the hearse with her master as it departed the scene.
