This story could easily have ended tragically,  but thanks to Sunny’s disposition and one very special young woman it didn’t. Kelsey Westbrook is a senior at The University of Louisville and part-time server at Joe’s Crab Shack.

On Sunday while working Kelsey and few of her co-workers heard the dog hit the water after someone had thrown her over a bridge near the restaurant. While some may have figured there was nothing they could do for the dog Kelsey and her friends jumped into action. Here are the details from the Courier Journal.

A white Chevy Malibu had stopped on the bridge in the southbound lanes, moments before Sunny’s plunge, said Kelsey Westbrook, the Joe’s Crab Shack server who took in the pooch and named her.

Sunny’s enlarged belly and protuberant nipples suggest she recently gave birth, she added.

“A person threw her over,” the University of Louisville senior said, “I guess somebody used her to breed and didn’t want to take care of her anymore.”

Westbrook and two other servers raced to the riverside to shout encouragement to the dog as it swam in circles a half mile way. At the sound of their voices, she said, the dog paddled toward them on the Kentucky side of the river. Louisville firefighters preparing for dive team training went out with their boat to get her some 20 feet from shore.

“I wanted to give her some hope, to let her know somebody was waiting for her,” Westbrook said. “I was afraid she would give up and drown.”

If you can’t see the video click here.

Diners erupted into applause as the dog, tail wagging, emerged from the skiff on a leash fashioned from nautical line, Cooper said.

“I was crying so hard, it was crazy,” Westbrook said. “I was ready to jump in the water and go after her.”

At riverside, Sunny scarfed down three hamburgers and lapped water from a crab bucket before going home to Westbrook’s Old Louisville apartment. There, the dog wolfed down five cups of Pedigree dog food.

Sunny appears less than two years old, Westbrook said. The red pit bull with a white chest quickly befriended Nala, the two-year-old German Shepherd mix Westbrook said she adopted from a private shelter.

Without a backyard for Sunny to play in, Westbrook added she would like to help her find another home.

“I took the dog because I just wanted to help her,” the English literature major said. “I don’t ever want her to feel pain again.”

The world could definitely use some more people like Kelsey Westbrook. We give her four big paws up and the good Samaritan award of the day.

* Pic of Sunny and Kelsey courtesy Scott Utterback, The Courier-Journal

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