Runners race to rescue of dog

Cross Country runners took a detour on their daily run to do a good deed in late October, coming to the rescue of a dog who was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Runners John Fielder, 11th, Matthew Valenta, 10th, and Quin Karas, 12th, were running along their normal practice route, along 96th Street near Highway 370, when the incident happened.

“We heard a thud, and we saw this car swerve a little bit,” Valenta said. ”Then we just see a dog get up in the middle of the street, running out of all the cars and running back to where the house was, which was right on the corner.”

Fiedler recalled the moment in detail: “I just hear the skid of the tires, and I turn my head. I just see the car hitting the hip of the dog, and obviously with the force of the car hitting the dog, the dog was kind of just spinning out. I don’t even know what to think. No thoughts in my head. I just see the dog get back on its feet and run around back the fence.”

Karas said he saw the whole thing: “I was the only one in the group who actually saw the car coming and saw the dog running into the street. There were actually two dogs, Mocha and a white lab. I just saw a bright streak out of the corner of my eye, which was the white lab, because they had both gotten out of the gate. Mocha was the only one who went out in the street, thankfully. I watched her get out in the street, and I see a bunch of traffic coming. I held my breath for what felt like three seconds, but it was only probably half a second. And then I see a big SUV coming down 96th, and I just had a pit fall in the middle of my stomach, and I saw it happen.”

“It didn’t look too bad, but obviously we wanted to make sure Mocha was okay,” Karas said. “We all kind of look at each other like, ‘What just happened? What do we do?’ We should go help and do something. We quickly try to get across the street as quickly as possible….. Mocha and the other lab were back in [the yard], so we closed the gate.”

The three athletes approached the house and knocked on the front door. At first, there was no answer.

 “We were just gonna say what happened on the ring doorbell,” Valenta said, “and then the owner answered. We started asking him if his dog was OK and if he knew what happened. I don’t think he knew that his dog was in the middle of the street and got hit by a car.”

      One of the owners later made a Facebook post on Let’s Talk Papillion thanking the runners, saying: “My family, Mocha, and I all want to send a huge ‘Thank you’ to the Papio South Titans Cross Country team members and the other motorist who stopped to help my dog after she was hit by a vehicle this afternoon. Unfortunately, the driver who hit her did not stay to help her but there were other kind students and drivers who took time out of their activities and day to help. Their kindness is much appreciated. After a Vet visit and many test we can say Mocha is doing fine and only has a few minor road rashes and will just need some rest and TLC.”

The runners said the rescue just felt like the natural thing to do.

 “I personally own two golden doodles,” Karas said, “so seeing any dog get hurt or involved in something like that – I’m emotionally attached to stuff like that – so I just wanted to make sure the dog was OK, since I was the only one of us three who saw it happen.”

 Valenta agreed with that sentiment. “I feel like I’m the same way, and I have a dog, too,” he said. “I didn’t see when it happened; I just saw right after it happened. I have a dog, and I feel like if that happened to my dog, I’d want someone to tell me.”

Karas said concern about the dog took priority over any worry about finishing practice that day.

“At the moment, it wasn’t anything about, ‘Oh we have to get back to the school.’ It was: ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ And that was to go help,” Karas explained.

Fiedler said he thought only briefly about getting back to Cross Country. “I was a little bit worried,” he explained, “but I just kind of thought that this is important and we should help out here. … It was how I was raised and the good culture we have with the program and helping each other out and focusing a little bit on not just our community of the program, but that should also be extended wider and broader.”