He was a dog owned by George Mitchell who helped to make his owner alive during Hurrican Katrina. He floated on an air mattress in a room while licking his owner in the face everytime he seemed to be slipped while there house was flooded almost to the ceiling. He was featured on an episode of MY PET SAVED MY LIFE.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/09/earlyshow/main829572.shtml
February 11, 2009 7:10 PM PrintText Old Dog Saves Owner From Katrina
ByBrian Dakss .Add Comment
Have Your Say Email Story
Send to a FriendShare ThisTell Your FriendsTweet ThisTweet ThisMoreShare It. Del.icio.usFacebookStumbleuponNewsvineYahoo bookmarksMixxDiggRedditGoogle BookmarksTwitterLinkedInPlay CBS News Video
(CBS) George Mitchell's dog may be one of the most unlikely heroes to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mitchell, 80,
tells
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers that Frisky saved his life as Katrina was devastating the landscape.
The mutt, who's nearly blind now, is a schnauzer-poodle mix and, at 19, is the equivalent of 133 in human years.
He showed up on Mitchell's doorstep in Biloxi, Miss., as a pup and has been a member of the family ever since.
Bowers met Mitchell in a Biloxi hospital, and found Frisky in Mitchell's bed with him.
"This dog has been kinda spoiled," Mitchell says. "But it paid off. It really paid off. He took care of me, he sure did. When it counted most, this dog lived up."
Frisky did more than take care of Mitchell. The unimposing four-legged friend gave Mitchell reason to live when Katrina was slamming the Gulf Coast.
"My little friend and I had a party that night," Mitchell says. "We had a big party. We spent the night treading water and swimming. … This thing (Katrina) was the monster of them all. It had to have come straight from Hell.
"About four hours after I was treading water and all, I was about ready to let go, and I felt this real peaceful feeling, like, 'This is it.' Ya know? And I was about to let go and, all of a sudden, he was on that mattress and come running to the corner of the mattress, and he kissed me and kissed me and kissed me. And it kinda snapped me out of it, and I was able to come back."
Mitchell's nephew, Doug Mitchell, showed Bowers his uncle's battered house.
The water line is still visible on the walls. Somehow, George Mitchell managed to keep himself and his dog afloat, and whenever he started to "slip away," as he puts it, Frisky was there to nuzzle him back, Bowers says.
After what Mitchell says felt like a lifetime, the water receded enough for him, Frisky in tow, to make it out of the house and over to some stairs, and they sloshed around to the side of the house where help was waiting.
Now, the two survivors are recuperating side by side.
Frisky is "why I'm here," Mitchell says. "I couldn't ever express the closeness between he and I. It's amazing he's stuck around (all these years). I think he's waiting to cross the River Jordan with me. That's what I think he's waiting to do."
"He very nearly crossed the Jordan with you that night, though," Bowers says.
"Well, that's what worried me," Mitchell says. "What would happen to him? And I think that's another thing that drove me."
It was Mitchell's wife who, many years ago, ordered him to "bring that dog in and give him a proper home. He's adopted you, George."
She has since passed away, but Mitchell is convinced everything she set in motion that day was leading to that night when Katrina came.
* * * * *
Frank Greve and George Pawlaczyk | Knight Ridder Newspapers
last updated: May 24, 2007 11:32:29 PM
BILOXI, Miss -- ]
BILOXI, Miss.—Some hurricane survivors find shards of beauty in their shattered lives. Here are some of them:
Just when George Mitchell of Biloxi was sure that Hurricane Katrina would drown him, his best friend did something that Mitchell thinks saved his life.
Frisky licked his face. Mitchell, 80, who'd hoisted his half-poodle half-schnauzer onto his floating mattress, had been treading water for four hours at the storm's peak in a bedroom filled with junk, fish and water snakes.
"I was about ready to quit," said Mitchell, "and he started licking my face to make me snap out of it. He knew I was going, but he wouldn't let me go."
Mitchell, a widower, is hospitalized now with deep cuts in his feet. Dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, but Frisky, who's blind, sleeps beside him on a pillow on the floor.
Mitchell, who's blind in one eye himself, told the receptionist that Frisky was a Seeing Eye dog who'd saved his life.
* * * * *
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20060178,00.html
FRISKY
KEPT HIS MASTER CONSCIOUS DURING HURRICANE KATRINA
His neighbors tried to get him to leave, but lifelong Biloxi, Miss., resident George Mitchell, a widower, was insistent on riding out the storm. Yes, that storm. "I said, 'Nope, [hurricane] Camille was as bad as it gets,'" says Mitchell, who turned 80 the day Katrina hit. Stubbornly, he took his schnauzer-poodle mix Frisky (a senior citizen himself at age 18) to an evacuated neighbor's home and waited. Soon Mitchell was chest-deep in water. He put Frisky on an inflatable mattress and hung on to keep himself afloat. "It was like being in a washing machine," says the retired Navy man turned real estate agent of the storm. After treading water for hours, he began to fade. "I was ready to let go," says Mitchell, who was on the verge of passing out. Not if Frisky had anything to do with it. The dog, which Mitchell found on his porch in 1987 as a stray puppy, went to the corner of the mattress and began frantically licking his master's face. "He would not stop licking until I snapped out of it," says Mitchell. Realizing his best friend's own life would be in danger if he died, Mitchell fought to stay alive. Finally, at daybreak, the water began to recede, and Mitchell could once again stand. He spent the next 12 days at a nearby hospital being treated for dehydration and cuts. Frisky was right by his side. "He slept on me the whole damn time," says Mitchell, who now lives in a Biloxi retirement community with his pup. "He's quite a boy. I wouldn't give him up for a million bucks."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/09/earlyshow/main829572.shtml
February 11, 2009 7:10 PM PrintText Old Dog Saves Owner From Katrina
ByBrian Dakss .Add Comment
Have Your Say Email Story
Send to a FriendShare ThisTell Your FriendsTweet ThisTweet ThisMoreShare It. Del.icio.usFacebookStumbleuponNewsvineYahoo bookmarksMixxDiggRedditGoogle BookmarksTwitterLinkedInPlay CBS News Video
(CBS) George Mitchell's dog may be one of the most unlikely heroes to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mitchell, 80,
tells
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers that Frisky saved his life as Katrina was devastating the landscape.
The mutt, who's nearly blind now, is a schnauzer-poodle mix and, at 19, is the equivalent of 133 in human years.
He showed up on Mitchell's doorstep in Biloxi, Miss., as a pup and has been a member of the family ever since.
Bowers met Mitchell in a Biloxi hospital, and found Frisky in Mitchell's bed with him.
"This dog has been kinda spoiled," Mitchell says. "But it paid off. It really paid off. He took care of me, he sure did. When it counted most, this dog lived up."
Frisky did more than take care of Mitchell. The unimposing four-legged friend gave Mitchell reason to live when Katrina was slamming the Gulf Coast.
"My little friend and I had a party that night," Mitchell says. "We had a big party. We spent the night treading water and swimming. … This thing (Katrina) was the monster of them all. It had to have come straight from Hell.
"About four hours after I was treading water and all, I was about ready to let go, and I felt this real peaceful feeling, like, 'This is it.' Ya know? And I was about to let go and, all of a sudden, he was on that mattress and come running to the corner of the mattress, and he kissed me and kissed me and kissed me. And it kinda snapped me out of it, and I was able to come back."
Mitchell's nephew, Doug Mitchell, showed Bowers his uncle's battered house.
The water line is still visible on the walls. Somehow, George Mitchell managed to keep himself and his dog afloat, and whenever he started to "slip away," as he puts it, Frisky was there to nuzzle him back, Bowers says.
After what Mitchell says felt like a lifetime, the water receded enough for him, Frisky in tow, to make it out of the house and over to some stairs, and they sloshed around to the side of the house where help was waiting.
Now, the two survivors are recuperating side by side.
Frisky is "why I'm here," Mitchell says. "I couldn't ever express the closeness between he and I. It's amazing he's stuck around (all these years). I think he's waiting to cross the River Jordan with me. That's what I think he's waiting to do."
"He very nearly crossed the Jordan with you that night, though," Bowers says.
"Well, that's what worried me," Mitchell says. "What would happen to him? And I think that's another thing that drove me."
It was Mitchell's wife who, many years ago, ordered him to "bring that dog in and give him a proper home. He's adopted you, George."
She has since passed away, but Mitchell is convinced everything she set in motion that day was leading to that night when Katrina came.
* * * * *
Frank Greve and George Pawlaczyk | Knight Ridder Newspapers
last updated: May 24, 2007 11:32:29 PM
BILOXI, Miss -- ]
BILOXI, Miss.—Some hurricane survivors find shards of beauty in their shattered lives. Here are some of them:
Just when George Mitchell of Biloxi was sure that Hurricane Katrina would drown him, his best friend did something that Mitchell thinks saved his life.
Frisky licked his face. Mitchell, 80, who'd hoisted his half-poodle half-schnauzer onto his floating mattress, had been treading water for four hours at the storm's peak in a bedroom filled with junk, fish and water snakes.
"I was about ready to quit," said Mitchell, "and he started licking my face to make me snap out of it. He knew I was going, but he wouldn't let me go."
Mitchell, a widower, is hospitalized now with deep cuts in his feet. Dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, but Frisky, who's blind, sleeps beside him on a pillow on the floor.
Mitchell, who's blind in one eye himself, told the receptionist that Frisky was a Seeing Eye dog who'd saved his life.
* * * * *
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20060178,00.html
FRISKY
KEPT HIS MASTER CONSCIOUS DURING HURRICANE KATRINA
His neighbors tried to get him to leave, but lifelong Biloxi, Miss., resident George Mitchell, a widower, was insistent on riding out the storm. Yes, that storm. "I said, 'Nope, [hurricane] Camille was as bad as it gets,'" says Mitchell, who turned 80 the day Katrina hit. Stubbornly, he took his schnauzer-poodle mix Frisky (a senior citizen himself at age 18) to an evacuated neighbor's home and waited. Soon Mitchell was chest-deep in water. He put Frisky on an inflatable mattress and hung on to keep himself afloat. "It was like being in a washing machine," says the retired Navy man turned real estate agent of the storm. After treading water for hours, he began to fade. "I was ready to let go," says Mitchell, who was on the verge of passing out. Not if Frisky had anything to do with it. The dog, which Mitchell found on his porch in 1987 as a stray puppy, went to the corner of the mattress and began frantically licking his master's face. "He would not stop licking until I snapped out of it," says Mitchell. Realizing his best friend's own life would be in danger if he died, Mitchell fought to stay alive. Finally, at daybreak, the water began to recede, and Mitchell could once again stand. He spent the next 12 days at a nearby hospital being treated for dehydration and cuts. Frisky was right by his side. "He slept on me the whole damn time," says Mitchell, who now lives in a Biloxi retirement community with his pup. "He's quite a boy. I wouldn't give him up for a million bucks."
He was a dog owned by George Mitchell who helped to make his owner alive during Hurrican Katrina. He floated on an air mattress in a room while licking his owner in the face everytime he seemed to be slipped while there house was flooded almost to the ceiling. He was featured on an episode of MY PET SAVED MY LIFE.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/09/earlyshow/main829572.shtml
February 11, 2009 7:10 PM PrintText Old Dog Saves Owner From Katrina
ByBrian Dakss .Add Comment
Have Your Say Email Story
Send to a FriendShare ThisTell Your FriendsTweet ThisTweet ThisMoreShare It. Del.icio.usFacebookStumbleuponNewsvineYahoo bookmarksMixxDiggRedditGoogle BookmarksTwitterLinkedInPlay CBS News Video
(CBS) George Mitchell's dog may be one of the most unlikely heroes to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mitchell, 80,
tells
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers that Frisky saved his life as Katrina was devastating the landscape.
The mutt, who's nearly blind now, is a schnauzer-poodle mix and, at 19, is the equivalent of 133 in human years.
He showed up on Mitchell's doorstep in Biloxi, Miss., as a pup and has been a member of the family ever since.
Bowers met Mitchell in a Biloxi hospital, and found Frisky in Mitchell's bed with him.
"This dog has been kinda spoiled," Mitchell says. "But it paid off. It really paid off. He took care of me, he sure did. When it counted most, this dog lived up."
Frisky did more than take care of Mitchell. The unimposing four-legged friend gave Mitchell reason to live when Katrina was slamming the Gulf Coast.
"My little friend and I had a party that night," Mitchell says. "We had a big party. We spent the night treading water and swimming. … This thing (Katrina) was the monster of them all. It had to have come straight from Hell.
"About four hours after I was treading water and all, I was about ready to let go, and I felt this real peaceful feeling, like, 'This is it.' Ya know? And I was about to let go and, all of a sudden, he was on that mattress and come running to the corner of the mattress, and he kissed me and kissed me and kissed me. And it kinda snapped me out of it, and I was able to come back."
Mitchell's nephew, Doug Mitchell, showed Bowers his uncle's battered house.
The water line is still visible on the walls. Somehow, George Mitchell managed to keep himself and his dog afloat, and whenever he started to "slip away," as he puts it, Frisky was there to nuzzle him back, Bowers says.
After what Mitchell says felt like a lifetime, the water receded enough for him, Frisky in tow, to make it out of the house and over to some stairs, and they sloshed around to the side of the house where help was waiting.
Now, the two survivors are recuperating side by side.
Frisky is "why I'm here," Mitchell says. "I couldn't ever express the closeness between he and I. It's amazing he's stuck around (all these years). I think he's waiting to cross the River Jordan with me. That's what I think he's waiting to do."
"He very nearly crossed the Jordan with you that night, though," Bowers says.
"Well, that's what worried me," Mitchell says. "What would happen to him? And I think that's another thing that drove me."
It was Mitchell's wife who, many years ago, ordered him to "bring that dog in and give him a proper home. He's adopted you, George."
She has since passed away, but Mitchell is convinced everything she set in motion that day was leading to that night when Katrina came.
* * * * *
Frank Greve and George Pawlaczyk | Knight Ridder Newspapers
last updated: May 24, 2007 11:32:29 PM
BILOXI, Miss -- ]
BILOXI, Miss.—Some hurricane survivors find shards of beauty in their shattered lives. Here are some of them:
Just when George Mitchell of Biloxi was sure that Hurricane Katrina would drown him, his best friend did something that Mitchell thinks saved his life.
Frisky licked his face. Mitchell, 80, who'd hoisted his half-poodle half-schnauzer onto his floating mattress, had been treading water for four hours at the storm's peak in a bedroom filled with junk, fish and water snakes.
"I was about ready to quit," said Mitchell, "and he started licking my face to make me snap out of it. He knew I was going, but he wouldn't let me go."
Mitchell, a widower, is hospitalized now with deep cuts in his feet. Dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, but Frisky, who's blind, sleeps beside him on a pillow on the floor.
Mitchell, who's blind in one eye himself, told the receptionist that Frisky was a Seeing Eye dog who'd saved his life.
* * * * *
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20060178,00.html
FRISKY
KEPT HIS MASTER CONSCIOUS DURING HURRICANE KATRINA
His neighbors tried to get him to leave, but lifelong Biloxi, Miss., resident George Mitchell, a widower, was insistent on riding out the storm. Yes, that storm. "I said, 'Nope, [hurricane] Camille was as bad as it gets,'" says Mitchell, who turned 80 the day Katrina hit. Stubbornly, he took his schnauzer-poodle mix Frisky (a senior citizen himself at age 18) to an evacuated neighbor's home and waited. Soon Mitchell was chest-deep in water. He put Frisky on an inflatable mattress and hung on to keep himself afloat. "It was like being in a washing machine," says the retired Navy man turned real estate agent of the storm. After treading water for hours, he began to fade. "I was ready to let go," says Mitchell, who was on the verge of passing out. Not if Frisky had anything to do with it. The dog, which Mitchell found on his porch in 1987 as a stray puppy, went to the corner of the mattress and began frantically licking his master's face. "He would not stop licking until I snapped out of it," says Mitchell. Realizing his best friend's own life would be in danger if he died, Mitchell fought to stay alive. Finally, at daybreak, the water began to recede, and Mitchell could once again stand. He spent the next 12 days at a nearby hospital being treated for dehydration and cuts. Frisky was right by his side. "He slept on me the whole damn time," says Mitchell, who now lives in a Biloxi retirement community with his pup. "He's quite a boy. I wouldn't give him up for a million bucks."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/09/earlyshow/main829572.shtml
February 11, 2009 7:10 PM PrintText Old Dog Saves Owner From Katrina
ByBrian Dakss .Add Comment
Have Your Say Email Story
Send to a FriendShare ThisTell Your FriendsTweet ThisTweet ThisMoreShare It. Del.icio.usFacebookStumbleuponNewsvineYahoo bookmarksMixxDiggRedditGoogle BookmarksTwitterLinkedInPlay CBS News Video
(CBS) George Mitchell's dog may be one of the most unlikely heroes to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mitchell, 80,
tells
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers that Frisky saved his life as Katrina was devastating the landscape.
The mutt, who's nearly blind now, is a schnauzer-poodle mix and, at 19, is the equivalent of 133 in human years.
He showed up on Mitchell's doorstep in Biloxi, Miss., as a pup and has been a member of the family ever since.
Bowers met Mitchell in a Biloxi hospital, and found Frisky in Mitchell's bed with him.
"This dog has been kinda spoiled," Mitchell says. "But it paid off. It really paid off. He took care of me, he sure did. When it counted most, this dog lived up."
Frisky did more than take care of Mitchell. The unimposing four-legged friend gave Mitchell reason to live when Katrina was slamming the Gulf Coast.
"My little friend and I had a party that night," Mitchell says. "We had a big party. We spent the night treading water and swimming. … This thing (Katrina) was the monster of them all. It had to have come straight from Hell.
"About four hours after I was treading water and all, I was about ready to let go, and I felt this real peaceful feeling, like, 'This is it.' Ya know? And I was about to let go and, all of a sudden, he was on that mattress and come running to the corner of the mattress, and he kissed me and kissed me and kissed me. And it kinda snapped me out of it, and I was able to come back."
Mitchell's nephew, Doug Mitchell, showed Bowers his uncle's battered house.
The water line is still visible on the walls. Somehow, George Mitchell managed to keep himself and his dog afloat, and whenever he started to "slip away," as he puts it, Frisky was there to nuzzle him back, Bowers says.
After what Mitchell says felt like a lifetime, the water receded enough for him, Frisky in tow, to make it out of the house and over to some stairs, and they sloshed around to the side of the house where help was waiting.
Now, the two survivors are recuperating side by side.
Frisky is "why I'm here," Mitchell says. "I couldn't ever express the closeness between he and I. It's amazing he's stuck around (all these years). I think he's waiting to cross the River Jordan with me. That's what I think he's waiting to do."
"He very nearly crossed the Jordan with you that night, though," Bowers says.
"Well, that's what worried me," Mitchell says. "What would happen to him? And I think that's another thing that drove me."
It was Mitchell's wife who, many years ago, ordered him to "bring that dog in and give him a proper home. He's adopted you, George."
She has since passed away, but Mitchell is convinced everything she set in motion that day was leading to that night when Katrina came.
* * * * *
Frank Greve and George Pawlaczyk | Knight Ridder Newspapers
last updated: May 24, 2007 11:32:29 PM
BILOXI, Miss -- ]
BILOXI, Miss.—Some hurricane survivors find shards of beauty in their shattered lives. Here are some of them:
Just when George Mitchell of Biloxi was sure that Hurricane Katrina would drown him, his best friend did something that Mitchell thinks saved his life.
Frisky licked his face. Mitchell, 80, who'd hoisted his half-poodle half-schnauzer onto his floating mattress, had been treading water for four hours at the storm's peak in a bedroom filled with junk, fish and water snakes.
"I was about ready to quit," said Mitchell, "and he started licking my face to make me snap out of it. He knew I was going, but he wouldn't let me go."
Mitchell, a widower, is hospitalized now with deep cuts in his feet. Dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, but Frisky, who's blind, sleeps beside him on a pillow on the floor.
Mitchell, who's blind in one eye himself, told the receptionist that Frisky was a Seeing Eye dog who'd saved his life.
* * * * *
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20060178,00.html
FRISKY
KEPT HIS MASTER CONSCIOUS DURING HURRICANE KATRINA
His neighbors tried to get him to leave, but lifelong Biloxi, Miss., resident George Mitchell, a widower, was insistent on riding out the storm. Yes, that storm. "I said, 'Nope, [hurricane] Camille was as bad as it gets,'" says Mitchell, who turned 80 the day Katrina hit. Stubbornly, he took his schnauzer-poodle mix Frisky (a senior citizen himself at age 18) to an evacuated neighbor's home and waited. Soon Mitchell was chest-deep in water. He put Frisky on an inflatable mattress and hung on to keep himself afloat. "It was like being in a washing machine," says the retired Navy man turned real estate agent of the storm. After treading water for hours, he began to fade. "I was ready to let go," says Mitchell, who was on the verge of passing out. Not if Frisky had anything to do with it. The dog, which Mitchell found on his porch in 1987 as a stray puppy, went to the corner of the mattress and began frantically licking his master's face. "He would not stop licking until I snapped out of it," says Mitchell. Realizing his best friend's own life would be in danger if he died, Mitchell fought to stay alive. Finally, at daybreak, the water began to recede, and Mitchell could once again stand. He spent the next 12 days at a nearby hospital being treated for dehydration and cuts. Frisky was right by his side. "He slept on me the whole damn time," says Mitchell, who now lives in a Biloxi retirement community with his pup. "He's quite a boy. I wouldn't give him up for a million bucks."
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
