Inclusion Daily Express -- Man Says Cat Came To His Rescue

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Man Says Cat Came To His Rescue
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 6, 2006

COLUMBUS, OHIO--Be nice to your pets: You never know when you might have to depend on them.

Gary Rosheisen is counting his blessings today, he says, because of his cat, Tommy.

On December 29, Columbus Police Officer Patrick Daugherty, responding to a 9-1-1 call, arrived at Rosheisen's apartment. There, he found the 50-year-old Rosheisen on the floor near the bed, and the orange and tan striped tabby lying by a telephone.

Rosheisen, who experiences pain from osteoporosis and mini-strokes, explained that he had lost his balance and fell between his wheelchair and the bed. He was trapped because he couldn't move. To make matters worse, he was not wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach an emergency cord above the bed for alerting paramedics.

That's when Tommy came to his rescue.

Rosheisen said the feline went to the phone, stepped on the speaker phone button, then pressed a small speed-dial button programmed to automatically call 9-1-1.

Daugherty said that after emergency dispatchers received the call but got no response on the line, they sent the officer to check things out.

"I know it sounds kind of weird," Daugherty told the Associated Press, saying he could come up with no other explanation for how they were contacted.

Rosheisen said he got Tommy three years ago to help him lower his blood pressure. He said he had tried to train Tommy to call 9-1-1 but had never been sure whether the cat had learned anything.

"He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

Related story with video:
"Owner: Cat Called 911 To Help Him" (KDKA)
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_365074236.html

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