ATHENS - An 80-year-old Athens woman who recently died has brought a little sunshine to a dog's life. <br>
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Dorothea Edwards wanted to help an animal as much as people, so when she died on Feb. 4, she left her pacemaker to the College of Veterinary Medicine at University of Georgia. <br>
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It's a good thing she did. There's a German Shepherd named Sunshine who needs it. Sunshine has a pacemaker, but the battery is losing power and needs to be replaced. She is scheduled to receive her new pacemaker Friday morning. <br>
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``The battery is running out of power and it's stimulating just enough to keep Sunshine alive,'' said Dr. Clay Calvert, a cardiologist at the school. ``It's reverted to fail safe mode.'' <br>
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Edwards' pacemaker arrived at the college a few weeks ago. Sunshine came in a week later with a complete heart block and a dying pacemaker battery. Calvert said without Edwards' pacemaker, Sunshine could die in a week or two. <br>
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The surgery is not a very difficult, said Dot Sparer, spokeswoman for the college. The pacemaker is placed right under the skin and the wires are connected. <br>
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``That's the tricky part,'' she said. <br>
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Between 10 and 20 dogs are diagnosed with heart conditions every day in the United States and Canada, but few get pacemakers. <br>
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The problem is cost and location, Calvert said. A pacemaker costs $4,000 to $6,000, and the average pet owner can't afford to pay that kind of money. Additionally, there are very few places that do the procedure. <br>
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Dogs generally depend on people to donate their pacemakers, but demand far exceeds supply, Calvert said. In the past five years, only two or three people have donated a pacemaker to the college. <br>
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``That's a real problem,'' Calvert said. ``Most elderly people who have pacemakers in them aren't even aware how desperate animals are in need of these pacemakers. For some like Sunshine, they can't live without the pacemaker.''
