The Good Samaritan
(a feature by Derek Bernard)
On Wednesday, 18th December, Mr Magnum was in his usual fine fettle when he was given
his lunch by Angela (see photo) and Vic Musso.
After waving good-bye to Vic and Angela, Mr Magnum went off for a walk …
Not long afterwards a Good Samaritan called Gary Laurent accompanied by his son, walked past the JPC and spotted Mr Magnum, whom they had met many times before on their walks. So they stopped to pass the time of day with him and he promptly jumped up on Gary’s son’s lap … leaving a lot of blood behind when he jumped off. Gary examined Mr Magnum and found a cut on his left front leg. Superficially it looked as though it had nearly stopped bleeding, so Gary and son decided to complete their walk and have another look at Mr Magnum on the way back. When they did this Gary realised that the cut had not stopped bleeding, so he called the Animal Shelter and they advised him to bring Mr Magnum in.
At the Animal Shelter, the duty vet, John Hamilton, a regular competitor in the SuperShot Challenge, discovered that an artery in Mr Magnum’s lower left front leg had been cut. The wound was quickly cleaned up, washed out, stitched and bandaged.
A scan of Mr Magnum disclosed his electronic chip and that Derek Bernard was his registered contact. A ‘phone call and Derek promptly collected Mr Magnum and took him to his “regular” Allan & Rushton-Taylor surgery at “Ballantrae” in St. Mary. There, vet Adele Trott quickly satisfied herself that Mr Magnum’s wound had been well-treated, gave him a jab and re-dressed the leg. However, she wanted him kept indoors for 2 days to avoid the risk of the dressing and stitches being disturbed.
Derek explained to Mr Magnum that, since he had been such a brave fellow, he was going to be given a short holiday – and he was booked into the surgery until Friday, 20th December. Adele Trott will then re-examine the wound and, all being well, Vic and Angela will return him to his home at the Jersey Pistol Club in good time for Christmas, where he will look forward once more to welcoming friends, old and new.