Dying bulldog saves his master, and more

Dying bulldog saves his master

Scott Seymore was debating whether to euthanize his 9-year-old bulldog, Brittney, who was dying of stomach cancer. Instead the Grand Rapids, Mich., man decided to give Brittney steroids to ease the pain in her last few weeks of life. Seymour’s decision paid off last week when his house caught fire and a barking Brittney woke him up. Both master and pet escaped safely. “She never, ever barks when I’m sleeping,” said Seymour. “She was demanding that I get up. And it saved my life.”

6-year-old steers car to safety

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Philip Mains of North Platte, Neb., is usually able to control his diabetes. But while driving recently with his two young sons in his Chevy Avalanche, Mains’ blood-sugar level suddenly dropped, plunging him into unconsciousness. His 6-year-old, Tustin, immediately took the wheel and safely steered the vehicle, which was traveling at about 15 mph, until a police officer chased it down and threw the car into park. “I saw my dad fall asleep,” said Tustin, “and I climbed over the seat and got on my dad’s lap.” His dad is doing fine.

13 years of perfect school attendance

Stefanie Zaner, an 18-year-old high school senior in Darnestown, Md., didn’t set out to have a perfect school attendance record. But as a child she began accumulating awards for never missing class and realized she “really liked being recognized for something.” This week, she is set to graduate from Northwest High School without missing a single one of her 2,340 school days since she entered kindergarten. It hasn’t always been easy. “I didn’t get to do any senior skip days,” said Zaner. “There were times I felt completely overwhelmed and thought I was never going to be able to maintain this image that everyone had of me.” In the fall, she’ll be attending the University of Maryland honors program.