"Beagle to Be Awarded for Saving Owner"

[NorthNone]

Beagle to Be Awarded for Saving Owner"
Beagle to Be Awarded _______ for Saving Owner
Beagle to Be Awarded to _______ for _____.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/19/AR2006061901051.html

Beagle to Be Awarded for Saving Owner
The Associated Press
Monday, June 19, 2006; 9:19 PM


ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 17-pound beagle named Belle is more than man's best friend. She's a lifesaver. Belle was in Washington, D.C., on Monday to receive an award for biting onto owner Kevin Weaver's cell phone to call 911 after the diabetic Ocoee man had a seizure and collapsed.

"There is no doubt in my mind that I'd be dead if I didn't have Belle," said Weaver, 34, whose blood sugar had dropped dangerously low. Belle had been trained to summon help in just those circumstances.

She was the first canine recipient to win the VITA Wireless Samaritan Award, given to someone who used a cell phone to save a life, prevent a crime or help in an emergency, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday.

Weaver first heard about service dogs while he was working as a flight attendant after befriending a frequent passenger who taught dogs to help diabetic patients. Using their keen sense of smell, the animals can detect abnormalities in a person's blood-sugar levels.

The dog periodically licks Weaver's nose to take her own reading of his blood-sugar level. If something seems off to her, she will paw and whine at him.

"Every time she paws at me like that I grab my meter and test myself," Weaver said. "She's never been wrong."


"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[chiph]

The *dog* called the cops????

[tt]9-1-1, please state your emergency[/tt]

[tt]Woof[/tt]

____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[Trevoke]

oh doggone, it's Belle!"

"That time in Seattle... was a nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX."
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive."
-- Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"

 

[columb]

This brings back some fond memories

What's that lassie? Two children stuck down the old mine shaft?

You're not going to tell me that was fictional, are you?

Ceci n'est pas une signature
Columb Healy

 

[donbott]

I have a book of cartoons called "Lassie get help!", hte cover shows Lassie on a psychiatrist's couch

DonBott
Why don't you get a toupee with some brains in it? Moe Howard

 

[NorthNone]

As interesting as the story itself is, I created this thread as a comment on the use of the English language in the title of the story.
Any comments on that?
NorthNone

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[CajunCenturion]

Yes, I have some comments on the title.

The first issue is the ambiguity created by using passive voice. From the title, you don't know if the beagle is getting the award, or the if the beagle IS the award.

--------------
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
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[sbix]

Yes.... I am trying to imagine a "Saving Owner" awarded by a beagle.....

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
I think this 'verb-izing' of nouns got started during some previous Olympics when someone was said to have 'medaled',
instead of saying they won a medal...




To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[columb]

I'm not sure that 'award' is a 'verb-ised' noun, especially not in UK English. www.dictionary.com gives awarded damages to the plaintiff as an example. However 'award' is a transitive verb, being used here as an intransitive verb, which adds to the confusion.

Ceci n'est pas une signature
Columb Healy

 

[guitarzan]

The use of awarded in the headline didn't seem correct to me (I would have thought "rewarded" would be more appropriate), but a quick search shows "award" as both a noun and a transitive verb.

So I guess you can be rewarded with an award, and awarded with a reward?

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
But a transitive verb needs an object, does it not...

What was awarded?





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[IknowMe]

She was the first canine recipient to win the VITA Wireless Samaritan Award, given to someone who used a cell phone to save a life, prevent a crime or help in an emergency, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday.

Isn't this improper use of the word someone?

Either way Belle's actions are 'Doggy-on-the-spot' in my book.


Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Here are my 2¢ on the above assertions:

1) The most-precise, least-ambiguous headline might read:
"Group Honours Beagle for Saving Owner".

2) Without more rewording, even if we exchange the passive-voice construction with active-voice construction, the sentence remains ambiguous:
"Group Awards Beagle for Saving Owner"
Even with active voice, the title does not assert whether the beagle receives the award or if the beagle is the award.

3) Using the transitive verb, "award" without an object is an incorrect construction that the passive-voice construction exacerbates.

4) "Award" is both a noun and a verb on both sides of The Pond.

5) "Reward" and "Award" are both valid verbs with distinct meanings and usages.

6) "Someone" is correct in the context in which it appears.

Again, just my 2¢.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[BoxHead]

Save a life - get a dog!

Seems pretty simple. I would think that more people would be willing to try the Good Samaritan Thing if they thought they might win a dog. Actually, I like to think that there are people like me (who only read the headlines) out there right now calling cabs for barflies, clearing lost 2x4s off the highway and joining neighborhood watch groups because they think it will get them a dog.

Maybe I'll forward this story on to the local hosptal's blood bank and the local animal shelter - see if they can work out a special promotion.

I think we may be onto something here. (Of course, I like to think that Thomas Jefferson called the Continental Congress together on July 4th to sing the Delaration of Independence and it was merely a typo on the invitations that Franklin printed which gave us a signed document instead of a Dylan-esque Fight Song).

Ah well. Back to bed. The fever should be breaking any day now.





Life is short.
Build something.

 

[NorthNone]

AHHH! The Washington Post rewrote and retitled that article to "A Bite and Bark That Saved a Life"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/18/AR2006061800857.html

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[NorthNone]

Here's the text of the rewritten article:

A Bite and Bark That Saved a Life
Cellphone Chomp Called 911 for Beagle's Owner

By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 19, 2006; Page B01

Belle Weaver is flying into the nation's capital today to receive an award for saving a family member's life. Before she leaves town, she'll meet with her congressman, accept a certificate autographed by a football great and bow her head to receive a medal.

Stories such as hers, of heroism and quick thinking, are always inspiring. But this one has a twist, and not just because Belle is 3 years old.

You see, Belle Weaver is a beagle. She used her owner's cellphone to call 911.

Her owner, Kevin Weaver, 34, was in the throes of a diabetic seizure, lying unconscious on his kitchen floor in Ocoee, Fla., when Belle located his phone and chomped down on the keypad, triggering a call.

The only thing emergency dispatchers heard was barking, but it was enough cause to send help, they reasoned. Weaver, a former flight attendant, woke up hours later in the hospital, weak and disoriented. Belle was there by his side, having finagled a ride in the ambulance.

Today the pint-size canine is taking a plane to Washington -- and not in the cargo hold, mind you -- to be honored. Belle will be the first animal to receive the VITA Wireless Samaritan Award, presented each year by the CTIA Wireless Foundation. The foundation honors those who use their wireless phones to save lives, stop crime or help in other emergencies. Cingular Wireless submitted Belle's nomination.

"We get that wireless is a new way for rude people to be rude to one another," said David Diggs, executive director of the Wireless Foundation, acknowledging that cellphones are known too often for shattering the peace in restaurants and on trains. "But at the same time, the safety benefits that this technology has brought, we think, are immeasurable."

It's not every day that a household pet saves a life. Cats are hardly so concerned with our general well-being, and goldfish, well, they're pretty much out of the running. But doctors told Weaver that had Belle not intervened before his roommates arrived home -- leaving Weaver alone for five hours on the kitchen floor with dangerously low blood sugar -- he probably wouldn't have made it.

"I would have died," said Weaver, still a bit incredulous about the whole experience. "I would have slipped into a coma and died."

For her part, Belle was hardly the pedigreed hero in waiting. In fact, as a puppy, she was returned to the pet store twice by dissatisfied buyers before Weaver's friend mentioned seeing the doggy in the window.

"I felt sorry for her," Weaver said about that encounter less than two years ago. "I went in and said, 'She's mine.' "

From that moment, Belle assumed the role of cherished pet. She had no special skills other than friendship. But as Weaver's lifelong struggle with diabetes got worse and he developed seizures, a frequent passenger on one of his flights suggested that he give Belle special training as a medical assistance dog.

The training for diabetic-alert dogs is not unlike the education provided to guide dogs for the visually impaired. But instead of learning to act as someone's guide, the animals are schooled to sense when their handlers' blood sugar is too high or low.

A beagle's sense of smell is many hundreds of times as strong as a human's. During her training, Belle was taught to lick Weaver's nostrils to smell his breath, reading his ketone level. If something isn't right, Belle knows to start scratching Weaver's leg, warning him to adjust his sugar levels before a seizure comes on. For a worst-case scenario, Belle was taught to bite down on Weaver's cellphone -- specifically on the number 9, which is programmed to dial 911.

The training was costly -- about $9,000 for nine months of intensive schooling -- but as it happened, it was worth every penny the morning of Feb. 7.

Weaver awoke feeling dizzy and nauseated. And Belle knew there was a problem.

"She started scratching at me and whining," Weaver recalled. "I thought maybe she had to go to the bathroom, not hitting on what was going on. I took her outside and brought her back in, and that's when I had the seizure."

It was the first seizure Weaver had had since Belle had completed her trained about eight months earlier. Weaver had wondered if any dog could be relied on to do a job that some adults would be too panicked for in a crisis.

But once Weaver collapsed, Belle was on it.

Weaver was discharged from the hospital that night. His first stop was a steakhouse, where he and Belle both enjoyed dinner.

His seizures have forced Weaver to give up his job with the airline. These days he works at Walt Disney World, where, years ago, he was employed to work with Pluto, one of the most famous dog characters, though hardly as smart as Belle.

Recently Disney arranged for Weaver to have a front-desk job where he could work with Belle, clad in her medical assistance vest, at his feet.

Belle will share the stage at Union Station with six of the 30 VITA award winners tonight. They include Jim Addington of Frederick, who used an Airfone on a commercial flight to talk with doctors on the ground and help a passenger suffering from a pulmonary embolism; and 10-year-old Josh Hartman of Silver Spring, who saved his father's life with a 911 call on a Firefly, a phone designed for children.

Weaver is certain of one thing about his dog.

"She loves me and I love her," Weaver said, talking on his cellphone. "She's my best friend, that's for sure."




"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[SantaMufasa]

In one respect, it is a shame that they re-wrote the article...I was using it in my "Precision Writing" class as an example of atrocious writing by a so-called professional...I should have saved an actual copy of the original versus saving just the link...Live and learn.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I can provide you with low-cost, remote Database Administration services: see our website and contact me via www.dasages.com]

 

[NorthNone]

Mufasa - revisit my original post at the top of this thread - that has the actual text in it.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

 

[NorthNone]

The first article is attributed to the Associated Press; the rewrite is attributed to a Washington Post staff writer.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller