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Thanks to the heroism of their little dogs, Sarah Lamont and her family survived a home invasion by armed robbers in Benoni.
Sarah tells YOU their story.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning our alarm went off and woke me up. My husband, Warren, turned to me and said, ‘It’s faulty again’. The alarm system had been hit by lightning earlier in the week. Warren got out of bed, switched on the camera system and deactivated the alarm, but I had a gut feeling something was wrong.
During the commotion – the alarm sirens were going off and the security company was phoning us – the intruders ran into the house, but we didn’t hear them because the alarm was so noisy.
Thinking everything was okay, my husband told the security company it was a faulty alarm.
At that point the two intruders had made their way to my eldest daughter’s bedroom. They were standing over her bed, but fortunately, in the dark, she thought it was just her mom and dad, and said to them, ‘I’m still sleeping’.
Kei, our Malinois cross, who was sleeping on her bed, launched herself at the one intruder. My little dog, Holly, a Biewer Yorkie, who was asleep on my bed, heard the commotion and ran to my daughter’s room.
As Kei and Holly were attacking the one intruder, the other one came into our room and began shooting, without saying a word.
I grabbed my other little dog, Harper, and lay on her as shots were being fired over my head. My husband grabbed his gun and managed to shoot the intruder dead.
The other intruder ran out of our daughter’s bedroom and little Holly went for his feet. He shot her twice, killing her instantly. He shot Kei too, and the bullet went through the top of her snout and broke her jaw.
Kei continued to attack him and chased him downstairs and right off the property.
She was an absolute little soldier through it all; she was shot and bleeding but still willing to fight to the death for her family.
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Despite her severe injuries, Kei ran for help but was unable to bark because her jaw had been shattered.
After the security company arrived, we searched frantically for Kei for 40 minutes before finding her at a nearby bird sanctuary.
We called Vicky Finnemore from the Boksburg SPCA then we took Kei to an emergency vet who treated her wounds, which included stitching her damaged tongue back together.
Once she was stable, Kei was transferred to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital in Pretoria, where she was treated by a specialist maxillofacial surgeon, Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, who X-rayed her and removed bullet fragments from her skull.
She is back home now, and she has to be tube-fed. She will go back to the hospital for more treatment, which will include reconstructive surgery, inserting plates and doing bone grafts.
We're hoping for full recovery, but it’s obviously a very costly exercise, which we’re going to fundraise for. But there's nothing we wouldn't do to save our fur baby, she's an absolute angel.
We adopted her from the Boksburg SPCA last September, after a year-long search at various rescue centres. Kei and my eldest daughter connected instantly. They were a match made in heaven from the moment they laid eyes on each other.
We are still battling with the trauma of losing our Holly, who died a superheroine. She gave up her life to save ours. It's thanks to Kei and Holly that we are still alive, because who knows what could have happened.
Holly was five years old. She was the best birthday present I could have received. She was our little baby – such a timid, kind, gentle-natured little dog. Who knew she could be so fierce when it came to protecting her family?
I don't know if I ever can deal with her loss, it was so sudden, so fast. Our family is coping as best as we can. It’s God's miracle that none of us was shot. He laid his love and protection over us, and we are grateful to be alive.”
EXTRA SOURCES: MAROELAMEDIA.CO.ZA, UP.AC.ZA, THESOUTHAFRICAN.COM, NSPCA.CO.ZA
