Snoopy, the miraculous survivor, by Yara Zalzal

Snoopy, the miracle survivor

On August 4^th 2020, a most dreaded day, the day of the Beirut Port explosion, my life turned upside down. As I was ready to grab my evening meal at the kitchen, prepared by my friend who happened to have rescued me a couple of years ago, followed by an evening session of belly rubs, the unimaginable happened. I heard some big giant unidentified flying objects which usually pay our neighborhood a visit every now and then. I usually am frightened by them, especially with the huge and annoying noise that they make. But I thought to myself that this was just a regular day in Mar Mikhail, as my friend likes to call it, except that it wasn’t. I could sense that the worst was yet to come and they always say that we (animals) have a sixth sense, and could tell when something bad is about to happen. Well, I was right. A couple of minutes later, before I could even reach the kitchen, I felt some vibrations, and then everything went boom boom boom! Then, there was nothing. All went black, then blank, then blurry… Then, I felt as if I was suffocating. I felt paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do and my friend was nowhere to be seen. I was hoping she would call my name (Snoopy) as she usually does, but nothing. This sensation of being paralyzed and unable to move lasted for so long. If minutes that went by could be counted as meals, then I would say I might have missed 100 meals.

Then, just like a miracle, my friend appeared out of the rubble and came straight to my rescue. I know she would show up as she always does. But I was in so much pain, like literally agonizing and thought I wouldn’t make it. I was in between fainting and staying awake, until kind people came to our rescue and then, some others were specifically interested in my wellbeing and picked me up. They placed the closet which apparently had smashed one of my legs back into place and rushed me to the vet’s. I heard them say my leg was injured and needed to be operated, whatever that meant. I also heard them mumble that I was overweight and that for my leg to recover, I should follow certain diet that would make me less chubby. I also have no clue what they intended here. I fell asleep and then woke up in another room. The pain was gone and I felt safe. My friend came back to check up on me and discuss my situation with the vet. The nice people who picked me up the night of the incident were there as well.

I never felt as loved and as safe in my life. I was relieved.

Fast-forward to today, almost three years after the explosion, Snoopy is doing much better. He's glowing and thriving!