Federal Way man credits pet dragon ‘Spike' for saving them from a fire
Have we got a dragon of a tale for you — a Federal Way man credits his pet bearded dragon with saving his life.
'Spike,' the bearded dragon, was not about to get eaten by flames.
When fire broke out in his Federal Way apartment last Saturday, he used his tail like a whip to wake up his sleeping owner.
Spike's owner is counting his blessings.
He thinks his life was saved because he has more work to do. If so, he has his pet dragon to thank.
Donald Hale and his bearded dragon, Spike, are nearly inseparable. That likely saved both their lives last weekend.
'I witnessed a miracle right here laying on this couch,' Hale said. 'Because if my dragon don't wake me up, if he don't wake me up, I don't, I don't be here talking to y'all.'
Hale had just returned from a 13-mile run Saturday night when he took some melatonin and fell into a deep sleep. So, he didn't hear the two smoke alarms going off. Lucky for him, Spike was no sleeping dragon.
'Didn't no neighbor wake me up,' said Hale. 'Didn't no alarm wake me up. My dragon woke me up. Spike!'
To whip up this dragon's tale, Spike whipped Hale with his very long tail to wake him up. He discovered why when he went to the bathroom.
'When I opened the cabinet, from the pressure the smoke came out, the fire came out,' Hale said. 'I went in there and grabbed the, grabbed something to put the water in, came back, and put it out.'
He was asked how it happened. 'Someone poured something down the drain,' he said.
Now, Hale is thanking God and his wordless companion.
'He don't make no sound,' marveled Hale. 'He don't bark. He don't holler. But he made the loudest noise I ever heard that day in my life. By banging on my face.'
If I were an intrepid reporter, I would be holding that dragon. But he's in his cage inside.
Hale says he now plans to take Spike to the Grand Canyon as a thank-you trip for saving him something priceless — his life.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Margaret Atwood, Jeanne Beker reference Canada-U.S. tensions at awards gala: 'We all wish [The Handmaid's Tale] was more fictional'
A celebration of Canadian women in entertainment, some of the country's most beloved talents were in Toronto for the The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada awards on Thursday night. Among the award recipients were Amrit Kaur, Jeanne Beker, Margaret Atwood and Tantoo Cardinal. Several of the women who accepted awards didn't just reference Canada's entertainment industry. They also spoke about escalating tensions between Canada and the U.S. "When [The Handmaid's Tale] came out, a certain number of people felt I was a lunatic, because surely the United States would never, ever do such things," Atwood said while accepting the Icon Award. "I'm sure we all wish the H.M.T. was more fictional and less of a docudrama drama. Will we all look back and say, 'Remember how scary that show was back then?' Or will we be unable to say anything at all, because we will have been censored out of existence. Meanwhile, we live in hope." When Jeanne Beker accepted the Impact Award, she spoke about how she was able to build her career in Canada, and not move to the U.S. "You do not have to move to the States to make it, you might have to move to the States to make more money," Beker said. "Things have changed so much. ... When I was rising up through the ranks in the '80s, there were not a lot of powerful women around. ... Women were kind of jealous of each other. It almost felt like, and certainly in this country, that there are only so many pieces of pie to go around." "There was an intense competition. I felt it and I felt threatened by women, I'm sorry to say, some beautiful, wonderful women. We were all just fighting to hang on to what we worked so hard for, to what we aspired to. And I have to say that slowly, but surely, over the decades, things started to change in the most amazing way. And an older woman didn't have to be threatened by a younger woman anymore. Quite the opposite." You do not have to move to the States to make it, you might have to move to the States to make more money. Amrit Kaur began her speech for the Breakthrough Award speaking about how inspired she was by Deepa Mehta's 1996 film Fire. "It was the first time I saw two women in a romantic relationship that were Indian women," Kaur said. "It was un-glamorized. It was raw. It was real. It was me. That bravery in telling the truth by the production, the artist, the director, that came out in Canada, is the reason I'm an actress." "I don't think our talents should have to go to America to break through. I think we can find more art like Fire. There are a lot of wonderful women in this room and that is so f—king rare. A lot of women decision makers, and I want you to take more chances, more risks. Women have intuition. We're not scared of the truth the way men are. We understand the human condition. We've dealt with oppression. We don't take no for an answer." Kaur also made a call for action to stop being so "polite." "I want you guys to fund art that fuels our fire as women, as humanitarians and as artists," she said. "Art that's ugly, art that's uncomfortable. But in order to do that, we have to stop being so polite." "Art isn't always polite. Art isn't always good. And as Canadians, we're so caught up in being good, we forget to be human. But I know as women, we can change that, because women know the pretence of being nice. We know the pretence of smiling, because behind every smile is a goddamn raging story." Tantoo Cardinal, who received the Equity in Entertainment Award, spoke about growing up as an Indigenous person in Canada. "I was born right into that world where people were breathing just really short breaths," Cardinal said. "There was no pride in who we were. There was shame in who we were. People who spoke the language were ridiculed." "You put the kids in school for generations and generations, and make them ashamed of who they are. ... My people have been forged in the fire and the smouldering embers of genocide. And we were not allowed to speak until the Truth and Reconciliation Commission revealed it in their findings. ... I came from a powerful people. Our history will tell you we found truth in our survival of atrocities in the marrow of the children that did survive, touched by the spirits of those who did not. ... Stories are part of the sacredness of life. We still have so many stories to change so that we might walk in balance in this new world we're creating," she said. "We must be allies. We must honour each other's truth and trust us to tell our own stories."
Forbes
27 minutes ago
- Forbes
Immigrants Benefit Their Host Country While Seeking Better Lives
Refugee mature woman protesting in the street getty Pakistan, Peru, Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Albania, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Ukraine, India, Philippines, El Salvador. Korea, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Poland. Keep the names of those 18 countries in mind as I tell you this back story. Two weeks ago, I fell and broke my hip. If you've never broken a hip, let me give you a piece of advice. Don't. Anyway, after a luxury limo trip (translation: ambulance) to the ER that night and hip replacement surgery the next day, I was transported to a rehabilitation facility for what would turn out to be two weeks of intensive, rigorous therapy. This rehabilitation institute has a well-deserved reputation for being the best of the best, elite in their service and outcomes. It's where you want to be if you have to be where you don't want to be. I'll be going home in two days and I'm confident all will be well. Which leads us to why I write today. And here it is. It was those 18 countries from which people who cared for me came to the United States. They were doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, aides, imaging techs, phlebotomists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, food service workers, and transport personnel. They treated me, fed me, held me, dressed me, cleaned me, and encouraged me. And they were immigrants, all doing their jobs so well and with such love, honor, and gratitude that it was plain to see why and how this institute is so very good at what they do. Perhaps they were not quite the destitute people to which Emma Lazarus referred in her immortal poem The New Colossus. Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!' But I'll bet some were. And while they all came here for a better life – the most commonly-recited mantra of the immigrant and, at the same time, the one most resented by anti-immigrants – in the process, they made my life better, too, especially in these last two dynamic weeks. That's what you call a fine example of symbiosis: interaction between two parties that works to the advantage of both. I assume you know this verse of Lazarus' poem is on a tablet held by the Statue of Liberty, for all to see. It is the most generous invitation ever extended on this earth, and my father accepted it in 1929, my mother's parents about 35 years earlier, Albert Einstein in 1933. And so did the people of this story. Yet anti-immigrant sentiment and action continues to proliferate around the world, and one just crossed my desk, sent by an associate who monitors these things. Said the author, 'America should take that poem off the Statue of Liberty but keep Lady Liberty.' That sentiment is not new. While the poem was heralded by John F. Kennedy in his book book A Nation of Immigrants (1958), it got quite the opposite reaction in 2019, during the first Trump administration. Ken Cuccinelli, Trump's acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, revised a line from the poem in support of the administration's 'public charge rule' which would have rejected would-be immigrants who lacked the wherewithal to support themselves. Cuccinelli suggested rewriting the caveat as, "Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet, and who will not become a public charge." He later suggested that the "huddled masses" should be European, and he downplayed the poem as "not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty." The Trump administration rule was later blocked by a federal appeals court. Perhaps a two-week stay in a hospital or rehab facility – with plenty of time to watch and think – would answer this big question: Tell me again; what, exactly, is wrong with immigration?
News24
31 minutes ago
- News24
‘Danger to society': Soweto residents fear suspect in Olorato Mongale's murder
Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment. You can only trial once. Start your FREE trial now
