Morris Hospital nurse gives patient’s puppy a temporary home

An over-the-road truck driver is recovering from a crash with his 6-month-old Boston terrier on his lap, and thanks to a Morris Hospital nurse, the puppy has a temporary home.

Scot Rambo, 57, of Idaho isn’t certain what happened. His last memory was 2:30 p.m. on the day of the crash, which was in early October. He was told the crash, of which he has no memory, happened about 6 p.m. when he hit a parked vehicle. Rambo was the only person injured in the crash, he said.

“I don’t remember if it was sunny or raining,” said Rambo, an over-the-road truck driver for three years. “People say I just slowly veered to the other side of the road. I never hit my brakes, nothing.”

Rambo is following up with health care providers to make sure he didn’t have a stroke, he said.

“Strokes do run in my family,” Rambo said.

Rambo said he has no memory of going to Morris Hospital.

“Somebody in the ambulance, I think, put my puppy on my lap and I was so glad to see him,” Rambo said. “He was all dusty and had glass on him, but he was not injured.”

Rambo’s only other memory was that “this wonderful nurse” at Morris Hospital could see Rambo was “very concerned” about losing his dog, Bruno.

“She just offered to take him home and take care of him until I was able to get him,” Rambo said. “It was such a relief not to have to think about it.”

Janis Koren said she was working in the emergency department when paramedics brought Rambo – and Bruno – into Morris Hospital.

Koren, who said she isn’t a “dog person,” thought Bruno was “so cute” and didn’t want to see him go to the animal shelter. So she told Rambo she would “hold onto” Bruno until Rambo recovered.

Koren bought food for Bruno and took him home for four days.

“He was great,” Koren said. “We walked every day. One day, we walked eight miles.”

Rambo was transferred to a trauma center. He had fractured several bones in his face and “a couple of ribs,” he said.

After his release, Rambo went to a cousin’s home in Aurora.

Koren drove Bruno there.

“It was only 30 minutes,” Koren said. “I was happy to do it.”

Rambo couldn’t believe it when he saw Bruno.

“He was all spruced up. She’d taken him to the dog spa,” Rambo said. “He was clean and smelling good and had a little bandana on. He had a new collar and leash. He was a little confused about what was going on, but he was happy to be back.”