A partially-blind dog is lucky to be alive after plunging 15 stories from the balcony of his owner's California apartment and landing in a hot tub.
Sam, a 13-year-old Boston terrier, somehow slipped through the railing outside the Sacramento apartment on Monday while he was soaking up the sun, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Two workers in the Bridgeway Towers building heard a splash and ran outside to find Sam swimming in the hot tub he miraculously landed in.
"It's absolutely a miracle," Bette Plumb, whose son Bill McCourt owns the lucky pooch, told The Sacramento Bee. "There's no way that dog should be alive."
Plumb watches Sam during the day while her son is at work. She initially thought the dog somehow got out by taking the stairs, but realized that was impossible, and was even more stunned when she found Sam alert when she went downstairs to get him.
Sam was treated for a fractured pelvis and five ribs at VCA Bradshaw Animal Hospital. He also needed stitches for a cut on his rear and is looking at up to eight weeks of recovery. But McCourt, who got Sam when he was 5 weeks old, is just happy his pal is alive, The Sacramento Bee reported.
"Whenever I tell someone what happened, they keep saying, 'The 15th floor? Are you sure it was the 15th floor?' Because no one can believe it. They're completely amazed," McCourt said.
"I just want to get him home. He's a huge part of my family."
Sam has gone out onto that same balcony almost every day since McCourt moved into the apartment three years ago, but McCourt said Sam is going to have to find a new hang out spot.
"His balcony days are over," McCourt said.
