DEARBORN, Mich. – A Metro Detroit family’s life has been turned upside-down after the flooding in the area.
Related: Residents hit with flooding again after severe weather swept across Metro Detroit
“Dearborn has been hit very hard. I know there’s other cities that have been hit, just as hard if not worse,” said Sarah Wilder.
This summer has been a series of ups and downs for Sarah Wilder, especially when it comes to Mother Nature. She lives in Dearborn and flooding has become the norm for her. Recently, water swallowed her backyard.
“It was quite a bit,” Wilder said. “It went up to my ankles.”
Wilder said that’s been the least of her worries.
“My puppy Zeus, he went to the vet last Thursday. And he got his regular routine vaccines, and everything was good,” said Wilder.
But things quickly changed. In just days, he started throwing up and wouldn’t eat. She took him to the Vet and she racked up a $10,000 vet bill.
“His liver was off the charts. His kidney was off the charts and they finally decided to test him for Leptospirosis and it came back positive. Leptospirosis is a bacteria that comes from infected rodent feces and unfortunately, because of all of the flooding, it brought it into my back yard,” Wilder said. “It’s very dangerous. It’s dangerous to dogs. It’s life threatening. It’s also transmittable to humans.”
Which is another issue for Wilder because her son is sick.
“My son is on autoimmune depressants,” Wilder said. “So I had to call his doctor and made sure he would be OK.”
Wilder said right now her puppy Zeus is at the vet. He’s stable, his kidney levels are down, but he’s not out of the woods yet. She said the recovery process will take some time.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for the vet bills. You can donate here.