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| Sweet Tucker |
When Christina Simmons left for work to tend bar at a Holiday Inn in Clifton, NJ, she never imagined that she would receive a lifesaving gift for her beloved pooch. Just days before, her Great Dane-Labrador Retriever mix, Tucker, had swallowed a tennis ball and was in need of emergency surgery. Simmons had no idea how she would pay for the $2,700 operation.
A lifelong animal lover and a rescuer, Simmons was tending bar when a customer noticed her paw print tattoo and asked her about it. The man and his wife began talking to her about animals and she related her ordeal with Tucker. Simmons, who works three jobs (a full time chef, bartender on Saturdays and food prep worker two days per week) is also a volunteer for a pit bull rescue group and regularly helps find homes for stray animals. Although her husband also works full-time, they had very little left over while raising three children. She knew she had to save Tucker’s life but feared she would never be able to pay for it.
She continued to chat with the couple about many different things that night. At the end of the night when she took their check, she couldn’t believe her eyes...