(Jake Vernon/PEOPLEPets.com) Gracie, an American pit bull terrier, stayed completely calm and remained by Vernon's side as she helped him escape the fire. "What was so crazy was my dog was not afraid of the fire," he said. "My dog walked right between me and the fire and stayed right there."
Dog Helps Paralyzed Owner Escape Fire
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APRIL 29, 2010
Laura T. Coffey, MSNBC

Jake Vernon was groggy and in pain. The 32-year-old had been paralyzed in a car accident 10 years earlier, and he had recently broken his right leg. On the morning of St. Patrick's Day, he took some medication he had been prescribed and tried drifting off to sleep.
But his dog Gracie Bean really wanted him to wake up. She yipped and yowled and ran around and around. Vernon told her to knock it off. "I even swatted her a few times and told her to lay down and be good," he told PeoplePets.com.
Finally, though, Gracie prompted him to wake up enough to see that his bed's headboard was on fire. The flames were spreading to his pillows and blankets, and they would soon engulf his entire Spokane, Wash., home. Vernon had to struggle to get out of bed, into his wheelchair, out his back door and down his home's only wheelchair ramp. Gracie, an American pit bull terrier, stayed completely calm and remained by Vernon's side throughout the ordeal. Vernon survived with some minor burns and wounds on his legs. "What was so crazy was my dog was not afraid of the fire," he said. "My dog walked right between me and the fire and stayed right there."
© 2010 msnbc.com
Reproduced with permission of MSNBC, from Man's best friends: 11 animals who saved human lives by Laura T. Coffey, April 2010, permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
You can read this story in its original location at: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36834168/
Read on for 11 outstanding examples of animals who saved the lives of humans:
Dog Saves 11-Year-Old Boy From Cougar Attack
Cat Protects Couple from Deadly Gas Leak
Dog Leads Owner to Elderly Man Freezing in Snow
Dog Brings Help to Burning Home
Dog Saves Blind Owner from Blood Sugar Crash
Cat Saves Couple Pregnant with Twins
Chihuahua Saves Elderly Women from Drowning
Click here for list of all eleven stories about animals who saved human lives!