LOUISVILLE, Colo. (KDVR) — A Louisville woman’s two dogs were killed after her home burned down in the Marshall Fire. After a grim month and a half, she’s smiling again thanks to a random act of kindness.
Sarah Medina lost her best friends in the Marshall Fire, but what has her smiling again is furry, has four legs and is considered man’s best friend. She was given a new puppy on Tuesday afternoon. The gift of love was given one day after Valentine’s Day by Nick Labarrie, owner of Highlands Australian Cobberdogs.
As Labarrie handed over the 9-week-old pup, he kissed it and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Medina embraced the dog and was overcome with emotion as she holds her new bundle of joy.
“He’s stunning, he’s so beautiful,” Medina cried.
But it hasn’t been all smiles for this dog mom. Medina opened up to FOX31 about life after the Marshall Fire. Through tears, the nurse said she was at work when she got a call from her neighbor about the fire and rushed home. She went on to say that she was stopped and detoured by several road closures and tried to tell first responders about her trapped dogs.
“I told him my dogs were inside and thought maybe someone could break the window and let them out,” Medina recalled. “He told me there’s absolutely no way back in.”
Distraught, but holding onto hope, Medina said it wasn’t until the next morning that she knew her home and two dogs were gone. She said someone had sent her a video of her home engulfed in flames.
Grayson and Jaxson were Australian Cobberdogs and Medina’s loyal companions, but tragically they did not survive the flames and smoke. Days after the fire, Medina was allowed to visit her charred home and said she found her dogs’ water bowls, which read “naughty” and “nice,” in the rubble. Overcome with grief, she grabbed a nail on the ground and etched both her dogs’ names in the snow and made a heart out of dog bones in their honor.
Medina told FOX31 that Australian Cobberdogs are her favorite breed and her two dogs had been through every step of life with her. She lost her home and her dogs in the blink of an eye, but there’s now a rainbow on the other side of her storm, named Anderson.
The 9-week-pup did not leave Medina’s side during the interview, laying in her lap and cuddling and nudging her face as she cried. Medina’s friend reached out to Labarrie, owner of Highlands Australian Cobberdogs, inquiring about a possible discount and shared the news of what happened to Medina. Labarrie said he cried and was so moved that he said, “No discount, I’ll give her the puppy for free.”
“Love begets love and that’s how I live my life,” Labarrie told FOX31. “I’m a very loving person and I think we just need to share love all around and you get it back. I think that’s what I got from Sarah today.”
Labarrie’s act of kindness has brought two strangers together and it’s something Medina will forever be grateful for.
“It’s not replacing my dogs, but honoring them and bringing a little companion back to my life,” Medina said. “Just the complete generosity in which he came to me I think is incredibly special and I’ll forever be grateful.”
Medina is staying with a friend in Highlands Ranch and hopes that within the next few weeks, she and Anderson will be moving into their new home to start their new beginning together.