Andy Baxter is still trying to figure it out. Call it fate or good luck, the Lyme resident is very thankful that 15-year-old Hannah Watkins, also of Lyme, had the presence of mind and smarts to save the life of Jasmine, his dog and close companion, a few weeks back.
So much that Baxter had to contact the Lyme Times, tell this story and send in the photo of Hannah and Jasmine. No one would know that days before, Hannah had rescued the pooch from choking.
Jasmine is a special companion to Baxter. She came into his life shortly after his wife, Carley, died in January 2005 at age 54 from breast cancer. The couple had been married for 20 years.
For many years, Andy and Carley had enjoyed the off-season as renters in Old Saybrook and Fenwick. They decided in 2001, shortly after Carey had been diagnosed with the disease, to make Lyme their home. They bought an old dairy farm on Joshuatown Road.
Baxter struggled with his loss after Carley’s passing. He bought a big RV and decided to drive across the country.
“I didn’t have a plan to get a dog,” he said. He just happened to meet a family whose dog had a litter of 10 puppies. The next thing he knew, he had a dog – an eight-week-old puppy, half English springer spaniel, half English cocker spaniel.
He picked up Jasmine on May 1. On June 1, the two set off cross-country. Man and dog traveled together for 4 ½ months, across 12,000 miles, through 36 states, to San Francisco and back.
“That’s how we got to know each other,” he said. “Jasmine is my partner.”
Baxter still spends a lot of time in New York. Caretakers Lee and Mary Watkins live in the guesthouse in Lyme.
For the past few years, Lee’s niece, Hannah, who is home-schooled by her parents David and Nancy, helps out during the summertime, with weeding, gardening and watering. She started doing this about the same time Jasmine came into the picture.
“Whenever Hannah is over, Jasmine is outside for the day, and the two of them just hang together,” Baxter said.
Early one Wednesday in July, Lee had to go somewhere. After feeding Jasmine and letting her have her morning romp, he put her in Baxter’s house and set the security alarm.
About fifteen minutes later, Hannah arrived for the day.
Baxter points out that she could have started working anywhere around the grounds that morning. But she decided to start tending flowers on the terrace, just in back of the kitchen. She happened to look in the house only to find the dog on its back, on the floor, feet up in the air, obviously in trouble. It was clawing at its throat.
Hannah knew where the spare key is hidden. So, she got it and unlocked the door, not knowing that the security alarm was on. Baxter credits her for keeping her wits, despite the blaring siren that soon went off.
The teenager calmly examined the dog and determined there was a piece of wood lodged in its throat. Unable to get the piece out of Jasmine’s mouth, she rolled the dog over and was able to massage the obstruction out of the animal’s throat.
“I have little doubt that I would have handled it that coolly,” Baxter said. “I might have hurt Jasmine by trying to force it out. More likely I would have thrown my dog into my car and tried to drive 120 miles an hour down to the vet and I would have killed us both.”
Jasmine was out soon of danger, but by this time a state trooper had shown up. It apparently didn’t’ take him long to surmise that Hannah wasn’t a robber attempting to break into the house, but a helpful friend with miraculous timing.
The dog quickly recovered from the harrowing experience, and so did her owner, once he learned of it about 48 hours later from the Watkins family. Both are very appreciative of Hannah’s sense and swift action.
So, Hannah had no idea, when she posed for her uncle Lee to snap this post-rescue photo with Jasmine that the plan was to send it to the Lyme Times to thank her for her efforts.
“Everyone is fine now. This very cool young woman saved my dog, when I don’t think I would have had the wits,” Baxter said. “It’s just one of those little things that happen in life. I was so impressed with Hannah and how she handled the whole situation.”