Dog, 15, Makes 'Miracle' Recovery After Spinal Stroke Injury Caught on Film

A dog owner has shocked the internet this week after posting footage of the moment his 15-year-old dog was injured in an accident.

Rafi Yitzhaki, who is from St. Charles, Illinois, shared the video on TikTok on Thursday where it has been viewed over 420,000 times.

Shared with the caption "Please pray on our Lady," the video shows the moment that the family's other dogs trampled over the 15-year-old miniature poodle cross.

Yitzhaki who is a single dad to two teenage girls told Newsweek: "Earlier this week the girls returned from school and are taking the dogs out as their daily routine. We've got three dogs, Bailey is a 4-year-old golden retriever, Cyber is a 9-month-old silver Labrador, and Lady. While my oldest daughter Ariel took them out, they went from the garage to the backyard."

But while Lady was struggling behind and was distracted by seeing the mailman in the front yard, she started barking and making her way to the front while the other two dogs ran over her.

"At that moment, Ariel was shocked and called me. I was at home and we rushed Lady to the Animal Hospital," explained Yitzhaki.

The family spent five hours at the vet's with Lady who was unable to walk after the accident. "I was sure they would put her down," said Yitzhaki. "After they had done x-rays, an ultrasound, and MRI, they found she had no broken bones and no internal bleeding."

Lady's spinal disc had moved around and caused a spinal stroke. Often a side effect of strenuous play, it occurs when a piece of a disc breaks off, enters the bloodstream and blocks blood flow to a portion of the spinal cord.

The good news, according to a blog post from investigative veterinarian Julie Buzby, is that the clinical signs of a spinal stroke will stop progressing after the first 24 hours, and from here, the dog's weakness or paralysis either stays static or will improve.

The injured pup spent the night at the hospital and a day later returned home with pain medications.

"That night she spent time with me in my bed," said Yitzhaki. But incredibly, a few days later, Lady was looking much better and has since taken her first unaided steps.

"It's a miracle," said Yitzhaki. "Lady started walking four days after the accident. Yesterday she could get up and eat on her own, today she started taking a few steps out in the backyard."

In a follow-up video, Lady was seen taking tentative steps into the backyard with dogs Bailey and Cyber surrounding her.

In the comments on the viral video, TikTok users shared their reactions. One reply said: "Shocking made me cry poor thing—so glad she's okay." Another wrote: "Oh I'm so happy that she was ok. Sending healing vibes your way."

"When that incident happened, I went to the security camera to see where exactly Lady got hit and showed it to her vet. It gave them a better indication of where the injury was and how hard the other two dogs hit her," explained Yitzhaki. But that was when he realized that his heartbroken teenage daughters needed all the support they could get, and he decided to share the video on the dogs' own TikTok page.

"Within seconds, that video went viral. People from all over the world started sending messages, praying, and love emojis and helped our family to go through that challenging moment. That huge family of TikTok dog lovers kept checking on her daily and supported the girls and me busy. We got calls from our friends in Europe, Israel, Japan, and Costa Rica... everyone was in shock to see how that video touched so many dog lovers' hearts," said the dog owner.