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Service Dog Jumps in Front of School Bus to Save Blind Owner

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A golden retriever service dog risked his life for his owner Tuesday morning. When Audrey Stone, who is blind, and her dog, Figo, were walking through an unmarked crosswalk in Brewster, New York, a mini school bus approached them. Figo jumped between Stone and the bus, The Journal News reported.

Police photos showed the dog’s fur stuck to the front wheel of the school bus, according to the paper.

The dog took a lot of the blow,” Brewster Police Chief John Del Gardo told CBS News. “And he did not want to leave her side. He stood right with her. He was there to save her.”

A local gas station manager, Paul Schwartz, ran to the scene to help.

He was flopping over to her, and she didn’t want him to get away from her, either,” Schwartz told NBC News New York.

The bus driver said he didn’t see Stone and Figo crossing, and he’s since been taken off duty, according to the Putnam County Courier. The two kindergarteners riding with him were not injured.

Stone, 62, sustained a head wound and a broken ankle, elbow and ribs. She’s being treated in a hospital in Connecticut. Figo couldn’t ride with Stone to the hospital, but he received surgery and has a leg splint. He will stay at the veterinary hospital until Stone recovers.

For more on this story, watch The Journal News video below:

Editor’s note: The front page image of this post is a stock image and not the dog mentioned in this story.

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Originally published: June 9, 2015
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