Zak, the dog who survived a Nebraska truck crash, back home in Poway
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Zak, the dog who survived the truck crash that killed his owner and was stranded in Nebraska until American Airlines offered to pay his airfare home to California, is back in Poway where he belongs.
Robert Shields, the basenji mix’s owner, was a longtime truck driver based in Poway. He took Zak with him on trucking runs for companionship and protection from thieves at rest stops. In Omaha, Shields’ truck crashed into a bridge support; police suspected he may have had a heart attack while at the wheel.
Zak emerged with only a scratch on his nose, but Shields’ family was unsure how to bring the dog home when Michele Henry, Omaha general manager for American Airlines, offered to donate the $300 flight. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:
‘It means everything to all of us,’ said Shields’ daughter, Jamie Pickett, 25. ‘It’s the only thing we have left of my father.’ Pickett teared up outside Lindbergh Field as Zak excitedly jumped and barked, held on a leash by her mother, Terry Shields. About a half dozen relatives, surrounded by news crews, greeted the dog at the airport.
‘He’s all I’ve got left. I needed him home because that’s what my husband would’ve wanted me to do,’ Terry Shields told NBC San Diego.
--Lindsay Barnett