13 WTHRPit bull saves man

Pit bull saves man

David MacAnally/Eyewitness News

Kokomo - After the recent stories about pit bull attacks comes a story about the good actions of a pit bull after the dog saved an army veteran's life.

"I just got it renovated," said Bruce Price as he stood outside his fire-damaged Kokomo rental home. He knows how much was lost and how much was saved.

"I'd either be over there in the mortuary or in the hospital right not because it was smoke everywhere," he said.

When a fire struck on Kokomo's Jefferson Street in the middle of the night, the 70-year-old was in bed. His great-nephew Jason McKoon was in the house next door watching a movie with friends. But someone was awake and alert, an 18-month-old pit bull named Kadense.

"She was jumping at the door and kind of pushing her nose thru the screen, just pretty much trying to draw your attention to the back door as if to say, 'lets go outside." That's how Jason McKoon remembers it. Kadense wanted him to see the fire licking at the outside of Bruce Price's rental. They ran to the apartment to get Uncle Bruce up and out to safety.

"My nephew was pounding on the door out there, the dog had gone wild," says Bruce Price. "I just put up the blind and the flames were right in my face. So I got out just in time. She was a lifesaver really. She was."

Three hours later, with firefighters gone, the dog started barking again.

"A lady was out there (saying) it's burning, it's burning," said Price.

The blaze had rekindled so firefighters had to come back.

Sgt. Bruce Price is a career Army veteran. He was badly wounded in a mortar attack in Vietnam. When he sees attacks on all pit bulls after recent biting incidents he is, "So disgusted with it. A bit bull is what you make it." It's how humans raise and treat them, he says.

"He brings her treats, plays games with her," says Price's niece Carol McKoon as her uncle hugs and collects kisses from his lifesaver. He tells Kadense "come on, you're a good old girl."

The Red Cross is sheltering Mr. Price as he lines up a new apartment. He had no renters insurance. Five structures were burned including a shed where the fire started. The fire is being considered suspicious.