Ok,
So I had a call from the dog owner today...
The vet had passed him my number.
The dog owner, Alex, 32, was the guy in the mobility scooter/ bike.
We chatted for a while and he's a nice guy. He said he doesn't want to hide anything and wanted to catch up with me. He said he was in shock at what happened, which is why he didn't hang around when the incident happened. He said he was rushing home so he could arrange to get to the vets.
The story is:
The dog (Winnie) was 1 year old and was being walked by Alex's carer.
Alex crossed the road and the Winnie must have panicked at the sight of this and tried to follow him.
The lead Alex used to have for Winnie had become to tight and he got a new lead, which was alittle too big.. this is how Winnie managed to free herself from it when trying to chase after Alex after he had crossed the road.
We know what happened next.
So I was talking to Alex and asked if he had pet insurance. He didn't.
I told him that the claim was going to have to go through my insurance company regardless and that the cost of repair was nearly £2000
I told him that I didn't want him to pay for all the repair costs and wondered if he could perhaps look at paying back my excess.
I told him that I feel bad talking to him about recovering costs after what had happened, but I at least wanted to have this conversation with him in case he was able to help.
He went on to explain that 6 years ago he broke his neck, leaving him paralised from the chest down.
He also explained that his last dog had died and that he also had a close friend who died recently in a car crash.
However, he said that he understands that damage was caused to my car and it was the right thing to do, to try and address that.
He said that the benefits he gets each month is not much but he will talk to his dad to see if he can sort something out.
So now I was really feeling bad
I told him that I would feel alot better if we forget it and I told him not to worry about all this.
I don't regret having the conversation with him because I didn't know his story until I talked with him, so there was always a chance that he could have been in a position to help -or indeed, had pet insurance.
But I just couldn't take any money from him.
He mentioned that he has a website which has info on him. He said I could take a look if I was interested - so I did.
I'm happy with my decision about not asking him for money.
There are always people out there worse off.
So I will be putting the claim through my insurance and sucking this one up.
I now just have the whole "Crusty The Clown & Co" issue to concentrate on and hope that they do what they're supposed to so I can get my car back to normal.
Here is a link to Alex's website, aptly named "Alex Will Walk Again"
You will see a picture of Alex and Winnie to the right of the page.
Alex will walk again
