Woman in Snowdrift Saved by Son’s Dog

A dog named Tootsie awakened her master with a whine and led him outside to a snowdrift, where he found his 90-year-old mother curled up in her nightgown.

Ethelyn Preston, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was listed in stable condition Tuesday at Swedish Medical Center in suburban Englewood, where she was being treated for a broken right arm.

“If Tootsie hadn’t notified me, she would have died,” said Roy Preston, Mrs. Preston’s 58-year-old son, who lives with her. Preston said his 3 1/2-year-old boxer woke him up Friday, “whining, like she wanted to tell me something. Then she ran right out to the back yard.”