Tuesday, April 7 at 4:46 pm, while my father was making his annual trip back to NH from Florida, I received the very distressing automated text: Crash Detected SOS Paul Spencer, Emergency Services called, and then GPS coordinates of his location… somewhere in Georgia… My heart sank and was followed by several attempts to call him only to hear, “Unable to complete your call at this time,” and text auto-responses saying, “I’m driving with Focus turned on. I’ll see your message when I get where I’m going.”

In a panic, I called my aunt in Florida, whose yard he’s been camping in all winter, to see if she knew anything. She did not, but got the same SOS text herself. And then, while we were talking, she got a call…

He’s OK!!!

Battered and beaten but not broken. Still somewhat unclear what exactly happened, somebody sideswiped somebody, and his van ended up swerving and rolled 2-3 times at highway speed. Thankfully, somehow he escaped with only a sore shoulder and skinned knee. His van did NOT fare as well!

And worse… his two dogs were either ejected or just escaped and ran when the van came to rest. He called for them for hours, and eventually, Tenney came back, and he is ok also, but no sign of Pearly. With the help of Animal Control, they were able to get Tenney into a vehicle, and they were both given a ride to a local hotel in Northern Georgia for the night. The local Animal Control and a team of volunteers have been searching the area since Wednesday morning, and still no sign of Pearly. We are beginning to fear the worst!

Anyone who knows my father knows that his dogs are his life. He doesn’t go anywhere without them, and the three of them live in that “camper van” four months a year when they spend the winter in Florida. (And it serves as a “mobile dog house” the rest of the year…)

It’s tight quarters for a grown man and two adult Great Danes! But he wouldn’t have it any other way! He has always had Great Danes since I was a little kid… fostering them, transporting them to new homes, working with the Great Dane rescue… Needless to say, he is devastated that Pearly is probably injured and wandering lost in the woods… or worse!

I am starting this GoFundMe to help with some of the costs incurred in this terrible accident. His van is a total loss, and due to its age and mileage, he’ll be lucky to get enough insurance money to just pay it off. The insurance won’t cover any of the “camper” modifications he’s made, and we don’t know yet what survived from all his power tools and belongings. Several days of hotel room and now a rental van to try and get what’s left of his stuff back to NH is a huge expense that just wasn’t in the budget on his fixed income!

Any help from anyone is greatly appreciated, and no amount is too little! If you don’t have anything to spare, keep him and the dogs in your thoughts and please consider sharing this post to spread the word.