Pig to the rescue

PITTSBURGH ÑWhen Jo Ann Altsman of Beaver Falls began having a heart attack in her vacation trailer on Presque Isle on Aug. 4, LuLu, Mrs. AltsmanÕs Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, rose to the occasion.

ÒI was yelling, ÔSomebody help me. Please help me. Call an ambulance,ÓÕ Mrs. Altsman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ÒShe looked at my head. She made sounds like she was crying. You know, they cry big fat tears.Ó

LuLu headed through the trailerÕs doggy-piggy door and into the fenced-in yard. She pushed open the gate, which Mrs. Altsman said she has never done before, and walked into the road.

Witnesses later told Mrs. Altsman that LuLu waited until a car approached then walked onto the road and laid down. One man stopped but later said he was afraid to get out.

ÒSheÕs not very attractive,Ó Mrs. Altsman said. Another motorist stopped, and followed LuLu to the trailer.

ÒI heard a man hollering through the door, ÔLady, your pigÕs in distress,ÓÕ Mrs. Altsman said. ÒI said, ÔIÕm in distress, too. Please call an ambulance.ÓÕ

The man, whose name Mrs. Altsman never learned, called 911. When the ambulance arrived, LuLu tried to get into the vehicle with Mrs. Altsman, but medics gently shooed her away.

Doctors also later told Mrs. Altsman that had 15 more minutes elapsed before help arrived, she likely would have died. She underwent heart surgery Sept. 15.