PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Firefighters at Punta Gorda’s Station One are being recognized for their compassion after they tried to save a family’s pet Capuchin monkey, who went into cardiac arrest Monday night.
Just before 10 p.m., Gena Walck and her husband rushed their nine-year-old monkey, Leah, to the station after realizing she was lethargic, struggling to breathe and no veterinarians nearby were available to help.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the effort to save Leah:
“We pulled in, swung in there right away, and they had a little table next to the fire engine,” Walck said. “I ran in and laid her there, and my husband went and got them, and they came out and just jumped right into action.”
Lieutenant Jerod Jones said the call was unlike any he had experienced in his career.
“We got a knock on the door, and somebody came in with a monkey that was sick and said they needed some help,” Jones said. “So, as firefighters, we're trained to expect the unexpected, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Jones said the crew immediately put an oxygen mask on Leah and checked her vitals. For a moment, he said, she seemed to be improving.
“The monkey kind of perked up, so they went on their way to find a vet,” Jones said.
But minutes later, Leah’s condition worsened.
“We only made it two blocks,” Walck said. “And Leah started to go limp again, and she took a really deep breath and stretched, and then she just, I felt her heart stop.”
The family turned around and went back to the station, where firefighters began CPR and other life-saving measures.
“Those firemen were just doing everything they could, and they just couldn't bring her little heart back,” Walck said. “So, we lost her.”
Walck said she raised Leah since she was three weeks old, alongside her other monkey, Levi, at her faith-based nonprofit Heaven Help Us Animal Refuge in Punta Gorda.
“Leah has been basically on my hip since the day we got her,” Walck said. “They are our life. You know, primates are like no other animals.”
Despite the heartbreak, Walck said she’s grateful for how firefighters responded when others wouldn’t.
“For them to step up, never even seeing a monkey or knowing what to do, you know, and all the vets turned us down, I just, I found that amazing,” she said.
Jones said the situation may have been unusual, but the department treats every life the same.
“Pets are like family to people, so we treat pets just like people here,” Jones said. “When there's a job to do, we all jump in and get it done.”
In a statement, the City of Punta Gorda Fire Department said its members’ “hearts are heavy with sorrow for the Walck family” and that they were “honored to have been there for Miss Leah in her final moments.”
