A PITBULL NAMED KILO

This is a true story about how an ordinary family dog saved his humans' lives and became a hero.  It all happened in Graniteville, on Staten Island, which is in New York.  That's where Justin Becker lives in an apartment with his girlfriend, Nicole Percoco, and their pitbull, Kilo, who is 12 years old.

Photo from video via silive.com

I couldn't find the exact date of this event, but it might have been March 31.  Anyway, it wasn't very long ago.  And what happened was that a man came to the door, and he was wearing a FedEx uniform, and he said he had a package for Justin.  But when Justin started to open the door, the FedEx man tried to push his way into the apartment, which is not something that FedEx people usually do.  So right away, Justin knew that this man was a bad guy who was trying to get in and rob them.

Justin started fighting with the fake FedEx guy, and he managed to knock him down, and then he was trying to shut the door on him.  And that's when Kilo the pitbull came running to attack the scary intruder.  Kilo got his head out through the door that was partway open because of having the bad guy trapped in it.  But then the guy pulled out a gun and shot Kilo in the head!  After which the bad guy ran away.

Kilo's dad, Justin Becker.  Photo by Steve White.

Kilo was bleeding a whole lot, and it seemed like he would die since he had got shot in the head.  Nicole told Justin he should just hold Kilo and let him die in his arms.  But Justin didn't want to give up, so he took Kilo to the veterinary hospital.  And after they x-rayed Kilo, they found out that the bullet didn't go all the way inside his head!  Instead, it hit his skull, and then it went out through Kilo's neck.  Which I guess means that Kilo is a very hard-headed dog!

Kilo with his bandage and cone.
Photo by Steve White.

"This is like, one in a million," is what the surgeon, Dr. Greg Panarello, said.  And he also said that Kilo was very lucky.  The staff at the hospital put an "S" on Kilo's bandage, which stands for "Superhero."  Now Kilo has to rest up for a while and take painkillers and antibiotics and wear a cone.  The bill came to $2,200, which shocked Kilo's dad.  But he said it was worth it because it saved his dog's life.  Mom was not shocked by the amount of this bill because she has had to pay some vet bills that were even bigger than that.  Luckily, Mom loves us and will pay even really big bills, whether she can afford it or not.  And maybe someday we can pay her back by biting an intruder and saving her life!