Pulse - October 2021 - 18

ANGEL FUND ANIMAL HEALTH FOUNDATION
After Encounter with Speeding
Cab, Husky Needed Help
from Angel Fund
One hot day in July, Nicole Espina took her Husky,
Vasily, out for a walk in Mar Vista. " It was really, really
hot, " she said. " Normally we would walk for half an hour
to an hour. But I didn't want him to get heat stroke so
we went back home early.
" Usually, when I get to to my front door, I unleash
him and he goes in. But this time, he pulled a little
Houdini on me and he ran out toward the street. "
A taxi was speeding down Venice Blvd. near her home
at the time. " The driver was looking down at his phone,
one of my neighbors said, and he didn't see my dog, "
Nicole said. Vasily lost what was a terrible mismatch with
the cab. The major physical problem was a broken leg,
she said, " but the encounter also has had a heavy mental
toll, too.
" He's crying every day, " she said in in a recent interview.
" The first few days Vasily was home, you could tell
that he wasn't the same anymore. When I would take
him out, he was traumatized by what had happened
there [in the street near her front door].
She said that Vasily " has been shaking, quivering and
crying and he's in pain. He's suffering. A lot of my friends
are like, what are you going to do? and I honestly don't
know what I can do. "
Nicole has been staying at home most of the time
because of her dog's trauma. She said that he also has
had sores from an infection, although Dr. Wendy Brooks,
who treated Vasily at Mar Vista Animal Hospital, told
Nicole that she expected him to recover soon.
Nicole who is not working full time, was short of cash
and the hospital suggested applying for help to Angel
Fund. Nicole did so and received a grant matched by the
hospital. That was a huge help.
" I'm so grateful for Angel Fund, " she said. " Without
it, I don't know what I would've done to get the
money to properly have my dog's medical needs taken
care of. Angel Fund took a lot of stress off me and was
a huge relief. "
Dr. Brooks, who is owner of the Mar Vista hospital,
was concerned about air in Vasily's chest cavity but after
hours of observation concluded that it would subside on
its own and didn't need what would have been expensive
treatment, Nicole said.
She was given Vasily - now four years old - by a friend
she made while visiting in Russia a couple of years ago.
Nicole had been studying at UC Davis but decided to
take some time off in 2016 after two years because of the
pressure she felt to maintain her 4.0 grade-point average.
18
" The pressure of maintaining it just got to me. I was very
devastated and my Mom suggested I take time off and
travel, " she said. She decided to do that - something she
could afford because of a settlement she had received
after a traffic accident several years ago.
After spending time in the South Pacific and Asia (she
is a native of the Philippines), she said, " I found myself
in Russia. " A scuba diver, she lived nearly two years in
Irkutsk, Siberia, but found a real highlight of her time
there when she went to Lake Baikal.
" They have this tradition that they go in the water,
usually in January. It's sort of a cultural or religious thing.
Baikal is one of the clearest, largest lakes in the world. I
was so stoked to go ice diving! " She regards her time in
Russia as " the best time of my life. "
She returned to the United States with Vasily in 2018
and tried living in New York City for a short time but
then returned to California. Although she had grown up
in the Bay Area, she decided to come to Los Angeles. She
now teaches some free-lance Yoga via Zoom and is hoping
to sell some of her paintings and pottery online to
supplement her finances.
She's also thinking about going back to college, perhaps
online. " It's been a long time since I've been in
school and I would need a refresher course, " she said. P
" Without [Angel Fund], I don't
know what I would've done to get
the money to properly have my
dog's medical needs taken care
of. Angel Fund took a lot of stress
off me and was a huge relief. "
OCTOBER 2021
PULSE
Pulse - October 2021

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