Bob CollinsThere’s good news and bad news in the story of Jay Mitchell, the homeless man who wouldn’t give up his dog in the brutal cold of a Minnesota winter and paid the price with severe frostbite.
The Star Tribune, which first reported his story, reports today that Mitchell will lose both feet.
But at a news conference Tuesday, he was reunited with Hero, his dog.
“[He’s] all I have in the world right now,” Mitchell said. “I love you, buddy. … This is who I gave up my feet for.”
Mitchell became homeless after caring for his wife, who died of cancer in December. After losing his lease, he couldn’t find housing that would accept his dog. He was living in a truck when the polar vortex struck.
“What you’ve done for me, John, is beyond words,” Mitchell told John Ganfield, of Hanover, Minn., who took Hero in while Mitchell is in the hospital.
“We’re just watching a dog,” Ganfield said.
A GoFundMe page has raised about $43,000 for Mitchell.
More dogs: Man who lost home to fire recalls seeing dog again (Albert Lea Tribune)
