Jackie and Charlie - Fight For Life

Thank you for taking a moment to read our story. My sister Jackie’s entire life was turned upside down on October 27th when her beloved dog Charlie was attacked by a 3 year old pitbull. Charlie was forced to undergo multiple medical procedures to save his life, at the cost of losing his left front leg and causing Jackie to take on insurmountable medical debt.

Without hesitation, Jackie agreed to take on any cost to save Charlie, who is rightfully considered a member of her family. However, as a New York City public school teacher at Transit Tech High School, Jackie has found herself in an extremely tumultuous financial situation. Any money donated will be used to help offset these steep medical bills and ensure Charlie’s quality of life as he adjusts to his new reality of becoming what is commonly known as a “tripod.”

As we are in the Holiday season, we understand that money can be tight for everyone, but any amount of money you are able to contribute is greatly appreciated. However, if you are unable to contribute money at this time, a share of this story with your family and friends is just as valuable and appreciated by us as well.

We have included a longer version of events below if you are interested in reading further about Charlie’s courageous fight for his life:

To start from the beginning, Jackie adopted both Charlie and his brother Harry over seven years ago, after which they have been her consistent companions in every facet of life. She rightfully views them both as her children and they affectionately follow her around like ducklings to a mother duck.

Fast forward to present day and in typical Jackie fashion, she volunteered to watch a 3-year old pitbull for a friend to allow them to go on a trip they had been planning. Jackie never thought twice about this as we grew up with friendly pitbulls as children and she saw it as an opportunity to help out a friend.

However, while attempting to introduce the dogs cautiously, Jackie was pulled to the ground and unable to prevent the pitbull from lunging at both Charlie and Harry. Charlie, acting as the older brother, as he always does, put himself in the path of the pitbull and his brother Harry.

In the immediate aftermath, once the dogs were amazingly able to be separated, Charlie’s paw and toes were both dislocated and he received multiple puncture wounds on his leg and neck.

He was rushed to a 24 hour emergency vet clinic where his wound was cleaned and bandaged and given antibiotics. In order to determine the best case of action, he was taken for x-rays and told to schedule an appointment to see a surgeon.

However, that wait was cut short when the next day, Charlie began refusing to eat and developed a spiking fever. Jackie rushed him to VERG Animal Hospital where he was immediately placed in the ICU. After hours of waiting, the doctors determined that Charlie’s wounds were infected and that he had become septic. At this point, it was determined that the best case of action would be to amputate Charlie’s wounded leg to increase his chances of survival and potentially improve his quality of life.

Charlie was forced to remain in the ICU for two days, where Jackie would spend the majority of her time even though she had been told she would be unable to see him. Under the watchful eye of critical care Dr. Buriko, Charlie was then determined to be stable enough for surgery.

After a few stressful hours, Jackie received the call from surgeon Dr. Jin, that Charlie had successfully made it through surgery and that she would finally be able to see Charlie again the very next day! At this point, Charlie had remained in the ICU for a total of three days and endured a life altering surgery to simply offer a chance at survival.

Unfortunately, Charlie’s road to recovery did hit one last major speed bump. After returning home, Charlie’s wound was struggling to heal and, ever aware of her dog’s feelings, Jackie made the early decision to rush him back to the emergency hospital.

In all, Charlie needed to be brought back to the emergency hospital twice on November 7th and 9th to get his wound flushed and receive additional rounds of antibiotics. After days of recuperating, Charlie’s culture tests returned and it was determined that he had developed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, otherwise known as a Staph Infection or MRSA.

Ever the feisty fighter, Charlie did not let this speed bump slow him down as the antibiotics did their job and he eventually cleared the danger window of the infection. Having finally survived his medical battles, Charlie was able to begin his adjustment to life with only three legs.

During all of these medical episodes, Jackie never once thought of herself, her well being, or the financial implications, as she solely focused on ensuring her family member Charlie was able to survive. Unfortunately, now the battle turns to Jackie as she attempts to find a way to navigate these costs on a school teacher’s salary.

If you are able to, any amount of money will be greatly appreciated, as Jackie attempts to pull herself out of this financial hole and help her beloved dog smoothly adjust to his new reality.