Puppy expected to survive after being impaled by branch on Cohasset trail

COHASSET, Mass. — A puppy was impaled by a tree branch while hiking with her owners on the trails of Whitney Woods, located behind their home in Cohasset.

Ten-month-old Lexi and her eight-year-old sister Chloe are vivacious vizslas and are known for having lots of energy, but Lexi ran into trouble during the hike around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

“We think Lexi jumped over a fallen tree and landed on a protruding stick,” said Barbara Field, Lexi’s owner.

The stick punctured an artery in Lexi’s neck, which caused her to bleed profusely.

“I went over and just tried to put an owner on,” said David Curry, Lexi’s owner.

Lexi’s owners – David Curry and his wife, Barbara Field – jumped into action. Field called 911, while Curry tried to stop the bleeding.

"[Curry] had his hand over the wound and if he moved, then I put my hand on the move and that's when I realized how bad it was because if I moved by hand it was really bad," said Field. 
 
At first, the couple tried to run nearly two miles out of the woods to meet first responders on King Street.

“I tried to carry her for a while, but I couldn't been the wound under control and carry her anymore and then we just stopped,” said Curry.

Field, however, kept running. She flagged down police because she didn’t have a good description to give the dispatcher of where they were located in the woods.

“They had several police cruisers there and an ATV so they came down immediately, so I hopped on the ATV,” said Field.

Cohasset Police Detective Harrison Schmidt and Tri-Town Animal Control Officer Brian Willard were on the off-road utility vehicle. with Field.

“When we originally pulled up, saw the owner, he was covered in blood, shirt covered in blood, said Officer Willard.

Lucky for Lexi and her owners, Cohasset Police recently used money from an anonymous donation to buy the new UTV.

“It was far into the woods, about a mile. The UTV was key to get us to the scene,” said Detective Schmidt.

Lexi was brought to Crazy Paws, a nearby animal clinic. They were able to stabilize her, but quickly determined she needed more help.

Police then rushed her to VCA South Shore (Weymouth) Animal Hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery.

She had a pierced blood vessel, which created lots of blood clots.  The surgeon was able to tie off the blood vessel and cut the sternum to clear the remaining blood clots.  As long as she doesn’t have any complications, she’ll be back home in a few days.

“We don't have kids. Our dogs are family,” said Field. “Vizslas are very energetic but they're the most loving dogs in the world.”

Lexi’s full recovery is expected to take up to six weeks.

“It's still a long road,” said Curry. “If you know the breed, keeping a ten-month-old vizsla still for six weeks, so she can heal properly, will be a challenge.”

In a statement, the couple said, “We are so grateful to the Cohasset Police, particularly Detective Harrison Schmidt and Animal Control Officer Brian Willard, the rest of the responding police officers, Crazy Paws Vet Todd Sieldman and the entire VCA staff.”

Cox Media Group