Video: Man credits dog CPR for saving his life

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SEATTLE – An Alaska man being treated at Harborview Medical Center says an unusual hunting experience may have saved his life.

Fairbanks resident Barry Whitehill was out hunting earlier this month when he had to give his dog CPR. The series of events that followed led to the discovery that Whitehill had a serious condition that may not have otherwise been diagnosed in time.

Whitehill lives and works in the wilderness of Fairbanks. On Dec. 6, he was hunting with his two German Wirehaired Pointers when the older one let out a yelp.

"And went over and found her in a snare,” he said. "And so released her but realized my younger dog wasn't around."

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Barry Whitehill gave CPR to his German Wirehaired Pointer, Tink.

After a frantic search, he found 3-year-old Tink in a different snare.

"She basically was strangled out,” Whitehill said. "There wasn't any twitch left in her."

He instantly began performing CPR.

"Well I was holding the tongue and the lower jaw, and breathing down her throat and just lifting her up and pounding her chest down on the ground," Whitehill said.

Once Tink started breathing again, Whitehill slung her over his shoulders, hiked out of the woods, and rushed to the animal hospital with his wife Patty. But along the way, his hearing faded in and out. And a little later, his mouth and arm went numb.

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Whitehill is shown here hunting with his dog Molly Rose in Fairbanks, Alaska.

"Patty came out with the dog and I said it’s time to go to the other emergency room," Whitehill said.

Doctors in Fairbanks diagnosed bleeding on the brain. Whitehill promptly arranged to see doctors in Seattle, and they diagnosed an even bigger problem.

Doctors think the stress and exertion of performing CPR on Tink set off a series of mini-strokes, which in turn lead to the discovery of a potentially fatal injury in his brain.

"If it had been discovered later he may have already suffered severe, life-threatening strokes at that point," said Dr. Louis Kim, a neurosurgeon at Harborview.

After several weeks at Harborview Medical Center, doctors are hopeful they can manage Whitehill's brain injury with medication.

He's now heading back to Fairbanks, eager to be reunited with the dog who seems to have saved his life when he saved hers.