The family dog, Papillon, had a reputation in the family for creating too much chaos. On a normal day, Papillon would vie for mom’s attention, but would soon settle down. On this particular day when mom’s daughter, Rachel, had just been born five weeks earlier, it was Papillon’s persistence that ended up saving Rachel’s life.

Mindy shares the events that led up to her discovery of tiny non-breathing Rachel as she lay in her crib. Immediately, Mindy sprang into action, calling for the help of her nine year old daughter while performing CPR on tiny Rachel. Because of Papillon’s action, Rachel was able to receive medical help before she stopped breathing completely.

Papillon represents the instinct that animals have into our lives. Anyone who has had a dog, especially a Border Collie, knows how much intuition they can have that causes them to understand their surroundings. It is unknown whether Papillon knew that Rachel had stopped breathing, or if his instinct let him know that something was wrong, but he certainly knew how to respond to the situation. Animals are truly amazing!