Shortly after returning from our restaurant openings in North Korea I began feeling strange. Suddenly I lost my sense of taste and smell. My beloved chicken kibble stated to taste like sawdust. My cool clean Canadian water tasted metallic. When out for a walk I had difficulty in smelling where to leave my pee mail. I started feeling totally exhausted. One night before bed I felt I was burning up. As I lay in my favourite Winnipeg Blue Bombers doggie bed I heard a gurgling. Where was that strange noise coming from? My chest! I told Dylan the Westie to keep an eye on me. From this point on things are foggy and confused.
Over my bed I saw a pale light filtering in as daylight greeted the kitchen but Dylan the Westie was barking furiously. What is the matter with him? I remember seeing Bob run into the kitchen to see what the commotion was. I was having difficulty breathing and my chest hurt. All I could see was a blur. I remember Bob saying, “Holy Moses. Reggie is having difficulty breathing! We have to get him to the Vet!” Although my taste and smell may have dissipated, I could detect fear in his voice. A blood chilling fear. I was bundled up and sat with Dylan the Westie and Fay in the car on the way on the animal hospital but I really only remember having difficulty breathing. And then it stopped. Bob sprung into action and in the middle of Mount Pleasant Boulevard in subzero temperatures in his pajamas grabbed my hind legs and began shaking me upside down until I started sputtering and breathing.
Bob drove like a bat out of hell going through red lights and we arrived in 15 minutes at the animal hospital. Dr. Murray took one look at me and shouted, “Oxygen NOW!!!!” I heard Bob and Fay crying and Dylan the Westie whining. I was taken to a room in the back and many wires were attached to me. Dr. Murray was saying, “We are losing Reggie. Quick get some adrenalin.”
“Flatlined” meant I was dying. I was so frightened. Then a bright white tunnel and my pain and suffering disappeared and I saw Anwar my late master! I must be in The Land Beyond. Kamil and Poofy the Poodle my deceased doggie friends were there with Anwar. I was so happy to be reunited! Anwar spoke to me sternly and said that it was not my time to go and stay with him in The Land Beyond as I had many things left to accomplish. I heard him praying to Allah begging him to make me return to the animal hospital and that is where I remember waking up for a moment to hear Dr. Murray say. “Reggie is back!”. Bob and Fay were jumping up and down with great joy.
Eventually I woke up in the animal hospital a few days later. Dr. Murray said that it was not COVID but a weird parasite that I might have picked up in North Korea. He sent blood samples to a special veterinarian institute in Lisbon and they confirmed it was the DMZ parasite found in some horsemeat bulgogi!
10 days later pumped with Portuguese anti-biotics I returned home. There were many cards, flowers and dog treats. I had gifts and well wishes from Kim Jong-Un, the King and Queen of Sweden, the big guy Iranian Ayatollah, Nicole Kidman, Snookie’s Rescue Society, President Joe Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden, the President of the Canadian Football League, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot, Mr. Keith Urban, Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, Drake, Russell Crowe, The Pope, Rick Mercer and many others. CBC National News did a 10-minute story about me and David Suzuki from the CBC show “Nature of Things” wanted to produce an hour special about me. Dearest to my heart were get well wishes from children all over the world.
In the meantime, Dr. Murray ordered two weeks of bed rest. Why did I not stay with Anwar? What more do I have to accomplish on Earth? I am not sure but like in Cairo after being bitten by that Rottenweiler I feel like I have more than one life. Why didn’t I die? What does Allah have planned for me? We can answer those questions later but for now REGGIE IS HAPPY TO BE BACK!
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