Our Dog Broke 10 Bones. It Cost $50K to Save Her
Key takeaways:
When Racheal DeRosa’s dog was hit by two cars, she and her husband were determined to do everything they could to save her.
The cost of their German shepherd Olivee’s medical care topped $50,000.
Racheal says saving their dog meant everything to her.
Struck by two cars within minutes of each other, the dog lay still on the road. Olivee, a 6-year-old German shepherd, had suffered three broken legs, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a bruised heart.
Running up to the pup, owner Racheal DeRosa feared she was dead. But when she reached her, Olivee looked at her and wagged her tail.
The bond between the two had always been a strong one: Racheal says the dog kept her company when her husband traveled for work and lessened the feelings of loss when her children left home. Olivee — or “Ollie” for short — had been a certified therapy dog, visiting sick children and providing comfort to homeless individuals.
“When I tell you that she’s amazing, that’s an understatement,” says Racheal, 55, of Ocala, Florida. “I never knew the love between a human and a dog could be so strong.”
Her German shepherd was ‘my everything’
Racheal remembers the heart-pounding drive to the animal hospital. The accident happened on the day after Christmas 2018 in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Olivee was chasing a cat and was hit by a car, whose driver stopped to help. In the aftermath, a second car ran over Olivee and drove away. The nearest veterinary emergency care center was 30 miles away. The trip there, Racheal says, was “the longest drive of my life.”
At the animal hospital, doctors performed CPR on Olivee and assessed the damage. Racheal remembers how cold she felt when veterinarians said the level of care Olivee needed was beyond their capabilities. Instead, they recommended that she take her to Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania (PennVet) — one of the nation’s top-ranked vet schools — about 80 miles away.
After evaluating Olivee’s injuries, veterinarians there said they thought all of Olivee’s injuries were fixable. The question was whether they could be fixed well. There was also concern about how Olivee would respond to the various surgeries and treatments. There was no doubt the recovery would be long and challenging. The veterinary team had to ask how much Racheal and husband, Brian, were willing to spend on her care.
The couple said they couldn’t put a cost on Olivee’s life. They were willing to pay whatever it took to give their beloved dog another chance at a happy life. They’d known and loved Olivee since she was a puppy, purchasing her from a West German breeder. They’d named her Olivee — nicknamed “Ollie” or “Ollie Ju” — because of her fur color, which they thought looked the same hue as olive juice in a dirty martini.
Olivee, Racheal says, “has been my heart, my soul, my travel partner, my rock, my smile, my reason, my purpose, my everything.”
Crowdfunding helped with the $50,000 in medical bills
Olivee arrived at the veterinary hospital broken, sad, and still. Two weeks later, she was trying to stand and merrily greeting her care team. She became so beloved by those who treated her that they’d share meals with her and send Racheal photos of them cuddling the dog. As Racheal noted in ongoing updates on Olivee’s care that she posted online, “The entire hospital including the parking attendants [knew] her story. She’s that incredible!”
Olivee eventually needed four surgeries and at least one blood transfusion. The veterinary team removed excess fluids from her chest twice. She spent time on a ventilator and later was moved to an oxygen crate. Rehabilitation therapies included stints on an underwater treadmill.
Not everything went smoothly: At one point, doctors feared one of Olivee’s legs was too damaged to save. As they told Racheal later, they preserved it using a combination of nuts, bolts, screws, and plates instead of a rod, as they’d originally planned.
Before Racheal could take Olivee home, she spent two days learning how best to care for the recuperating animal. When she was discharged, Olivee had casts on her front legs. Racheal and Brian built a ramp leading to their back door and used a toboggan-like sled to take their dog outside.
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“I always knew she was a strong girl, but I never in my wildest dreams thought she could endure such a horrific trauma and bounce right back,” Racheal says.
The cost of Olivee’s care eventually topped $50,000. Pet insurance covered about $7,000 of that total. About $5,000 came from donations to a “Saving Ollie” gofundme page set up by a friend. A local bar hosted a “Tithing Tuesday,” donating 20% of a night’s sales — about $1,200 — to the cause. The couple printed and sold “#Olliestrong” T-shirts. Several private individuals sent money directly to the hospital in Olivee’s name.
The animal hospital put together a video about Olivee’s case and, to thank Racheal and Brian, knocked $5,000 off their total bill, giving them a “friends and family” discount.
Still, Racheal and Brian estimate they personally paid about $32,000 to restore Olivee to health. Racheal says it was money well spent.
The hospital “was absolutely amazing, incredible, and any other word you can think of that describes the best of the best,” she says. “I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for her. They gave me my dog again.”
Olivee is now 11. She’s slowing down, “but she still absolutely loves life,” Racheal says. “She truly is a miracle. I am so glad and grateful to be her very own human.”
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