Punta Gorda firefighters rescue dog who was stuck in a recliner

First responders gave a four-month-old puppy CPR after freeing the stuck pup from a recliner. The dog’s owner said her neck and head were trapped, and she couldn’t breathe.

Lucy was sniffing around a gap in the couch when John DeMarco got up to put the leg rest down. Suddenly, Lucy got her head stuck. Lucy’s parents, Kay and John DeMarco, kept screaming.

“She was just screaming and choking for the first part, but towards the end, she was just nothing,” John said.

“We were we were beside ourselves,” Kay said.

Lucy got her head stuck right where their motorized recliner would usually collapse. John was casually sitting down watching TV.

“He got up. And as soon as he got up, we heard this groan. Unbelievable sound. And he said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘She’s stuck. She’s behind.’ I knew right away,” Kay said.

Lucy’s head and neck were wedged in a spot barely big enough to fit a couple of fingers. Lucy couldn’t breathe. When firefighters arrived after the DeMarco’s called for help, they broke out the Jaws of Life.

“We typically use them on vehicle accidents, not really use them inside someone’s living room every day,” Lieutenant James Klages from the Punta Gorda Fire Department said.

Prying open the space between the couch to save Lucy. But then, her body went limp.

“I just say to my wife, Kay, she’s gone,” John said.

“We realized it wasn’t breathing, so what we have on our trucks are these special pet oxygen mask that fit right over their snout. And we were able to connect a bag valve mask, BVM, and assisted ventilations,” Lieutenant Klages said.

A few seconds later, the story had a happy ending.

“They got, they got her. They got her back. I couldn’t believe it. I just absolutely couldn’t believe it,” DeMarco said.

Lucy is in picture-perfect health and back to her usual energetic self.