By EMS1 Staff
CHESTERTON, Ind. — A paramedic led an extensive search for a patient’s dog that escaped after a rollover crash.
NWI Times reported that Lucas Cardona was recently reunited with his dog, Finn, at Porter EMS Station 1 after 39-year veteran paramedic Mary Esserman and her colleagues searched for days.
Finn had gone missing after Cardona’s semi-truck was involved in a rollover crash. Esserman and her partner, EMT Vanessa Cooper-Burns, responded to the crash, and Esserman became determined to find the dog after treating Cardona.
“That’s me. I’m an animal lover,” Esserman said. “To see the look on [Cardona’s] face with all that had happened, I had to do it.”
Esserman and Porter Fire Chief Jay Craig searched for Finn using a drone, and although they found another missing dog, Finn was not located.
The paramedic was not finished looking for the missing dog. She returned to the crash site with a T-shirt and sweatshirt of Cardona’s and had Cardona on her cellphone saying something the dog would recognize.
On her hands and knees, Esserman recovered the dog when he showed up and began licking her phone.
Finn was finally reunited with Cardona after several days of being separated, and he said Esserman “has been a godsend, continuously looking for him.”
“I missed him like crazy,” Cardona said. “He’s my baby boy. He’s like my son.”
Porter EMS director Ann Brandt said she’s amazed by Esserman’s efforts, but not surprised.
“It exemplifies the department we have. We all get really involved in the community,” Brandt said. “Mary went above and beyond. I’m proud of this department, and I’m proud to have Mary.”
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