Episodio 3: Furry Friends (Amigos peludos)

Para muchos estadounidenses, los perros no son solo una mascota, son parte de la familia. Randy Pierce y Neil Rodríguez han hecho todo lo posible para demostrar su amor a sus mascotas. Después de escuchar el episodio, asegúrate de visitar https://www.livelikepoh.com/ y https://2020visionquest.org/ para aprender más sobre Neil, Randy y sus perros.

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Transcripción

Diana: Era un día brillante y soleado del 2013. Cientos de personas corrían por el centro de la ciudad de Boston. Llegaban a la recta final de la famosa Boston 5K, una de las carreras de cinco kilómetros más famosas de los Estados Unidos. Randy Pierce corría con su perro Quinn.

Randy: Everyone in the crowd was really excited. People applauded as I stepped across the finish line. My wonderful dog, Quinn, was right next to me. The people who organized the race took a picture of us at that moment. In the picture, Quinn and I both look extremely happy. It really was a great day.

Diana: La foto de Randy y Quinn llegando a la meta se volvió viral, porque ese día los dos hicieron historia. Randy es invidente o blind, y por eso necesitaba a Quinn, su perro guía o guide dog.

Randy: We were the first blind person and guide dog to finish the Boston 5K. No one did it before us. My dog loved running more than anything, so I loved it too. Quinn even inspired me to run one of the biggest races of all: the Boston Marathon.

Diana: Welcome, bienvenidos y bienvenidas a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo. Soy Diana Gameros. En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes.

Todos nuestros protagonistas hablan en un inglés sencillo y fácil de entender para quienes están aprendiendo el idioma. En cada capítulo, yo te acompañaré, para asegurarme de que entiendas todo.

Hoy vamos a escuchar a dos personas de los Estados Unidos que aman a sus mascotas. Tanto, que las tratan como si fueran parte de su familia.

Diana: En 1988, Randy Pierce había acabado sus estudios de ingeniería en la Universidad de New Hampshire. Estaba emocionado por comenzar a ejercer su carrera. Pero en ese momento sintió que algo no andaba bien con su salud.

Randy: I was feeling very sick, so I went to the emergency room. After several different tests, the doctor gave me the results. I’ll never forget the look on his face. He took off his glasses and just said, “Randy…” I knew it was going to be bad news. He told me that I had a rare neurological disease and I was going to be blind. I was already losing my vision, and I was only 22.

Diana: Randy se hundió. Pensó que no podría superar el quedarse ciego.

Randy: I was in shock. I was so young, and my future seemed so dark. Walking was also becoming difficult. For a while, I even had to use a wheelchair.

Diana: En los Estados Unidos hay organizaciones que encuentran perros guía ya entrenados para personas invidentes. Randy contactó a una de ellas para pedirles ayuda.

Randy: I couldn’t walk, and that was really hard for me. I thought a guide dog could help me walk and become independent again. So, I contacted a local organization that offered guide dogs for blind people. And then I went to New York to get my dog. That’s when I first met Quinn. At first, he didn’t notice me at all! He was too interested in his toys. Then I knew how to connect with Quinn: by playing!

Diana: En ese momento Randy necesitaba un bastón para caminar porque no tenía fuerzas para hacerlo solo. Él y Quinn comenzaron a caminar juntos, poco a poco.

Randy: Quinn and I always played after we went on a walk. One day, he got a little too excited. He couldn’t wait to play, so we started walking really fast. Soon, we started running. After that, we ran together all the time, and that changed my life.

Diana: La carrera más memorable de Randy y Quinn fue la Boston 5K en el 2013. Esa carrera suele celebrarse antes del maratón de Boston, que como todos los maratones, es de 42 kilómetros.

Randy: After we did really well during that 5K, I celebrated with some of my running friends. Then I went back to the state of New Hampshire. But my friends stayed in the city to watch the Boston Marathon, which was going to happen the next day.

On the day of the marathon, I watched the news and heard about an explosion at the finish line.

Diana: El 15 de abril del 2013, dos bombas explotaron cerca de la misma meta a la que el día anterior habían llegado Randy y Quinn. Murieron tres personas y 280 resultaron heridas.

Randy: At first, I was in shock. But then, after that tragic bombing, I knew that I had to run in the Boston Marathon the next year. I wanted to show that horrible violence couldn’t stop people from enjoying that amazing event.

Diana: Correr el maratón no sería fácil. De las 30,000 personas que corren y acaban la carrera cada año, sólo unas diez son invidentes.

Randy: Quinn and I started running a lot. But during some of our runs in the fall, I noticed that Quinn seemed tired. So I took him to the veterinarian, and I got very bad news. The vet said that Quinn had cancer and he was going to die in a few months. At that moment, I realized that I wouldn’t just lose my guide dog but also my best friend.

Diana: Randy dejó de prepararse para el maratón, porque quería cuidar a Quinn. Pero el perro falleció tres meses después, a la edad de nueve años. Randy lo pasó muy, muy mal.

Randy: The day we put Quinn to sleep, I held him in my arms, and I told him how much I loved him. He died while I was hugging him. I immediately knew that the best way to honor my boy, Quinn, was to run in the Boston Marathon.

Diana: El maratón del 2015 sería en abril, por lo que Randy tuvo que prepararse durante el duro invierno de New Hampshire, donde las temperaturas son muy, muy frías.

Randy: It was hard to get out of bed and run in the extremely cold temperatures. But because I’m blind, I also had to convince my three guides to run in the cold!

Diana: En ocasiones, los deportistas invidentes como Randy corren con personas guías que les van contando cómo es el camino.

Randy: It’s too difficult for a dog to run in a marathon. A dog will become very tired, so most people run with human guides. I had a group of three people running next to me, taking turns. My guides had to tell me where to turn and when to avoid holes in the road. I also had a running stick, which my guides used to help me go in the right direction.

Diana: En abril, Randy estaba listo. Normalmente, las personas entrenadas, que no son invidentes, pueden acabar el maratón en cuatro horas y media. Randy quería completarlo en menos tiempo.

Randy: That was going to be very difficult. I needed to run one mile in nine minutes for all 26.2 miles of the marathon — without being able to see! That’s 30 minutes faster than the average person who isn’t blind!

Diana: El día del maratón llegó. Y Randy estaba muy nervioso.

Randy: The weather was terrible. There were strong winds, and it was also raining! It’s really difficult for a blind person to run while it’s raining. I knew it was going to be a hard day. But I tied my shoes and put on a shirt that said “Miles for Quinn.” And then I went to the start line.

Diana: En esta ocasión, Randy correría acompañado por un solo guía.

Randy: I got ready to start the race. I was next to 30,000 other runners. I was nervous, and my heart was racing, but when I heard the gun…I just thought of Quinn. And I ran and ran. Everything was going well, and I felt strong until we were almost at “Heartbreak Hill.”

Diana: Hay una parte del maratón de Boston a la que todos los corredores le tienen miedo. Se llama “Heartbreak Hill”, que significa “colina del Desamor”. Es una dura cuesta final.

Randy: Each step was painful. But then I thought of my boy, Quinn. I thought about him sitting in my lap. I remembered hiking with him in New Hampshire and running on the roads by my house. My memories of Quinn helped me get up that hill. And when I got to the top, I shouted, “I love you, Quinn boy!” Quinn made me feel strong. I was able to cross the finish line…in three hours and 50 minutes!

Diana: Randy no dejó de correr ese día. Desde entonces, ha participado en más de diez maratones e incluso algunos ultramaratones, los de más de 42 kilómetros. Ah, y también tiene un nuevo perro guía. Pero no para correr.

Randy: Autumn is my new dog. She’s a Labrador like Quinn. We got her from the same organization that helps blind people. But Autumn is not a runner like Quinn. If she sees a squirrel or another animal, she may get distracted. And that can be dangerous for both of us! I still think about Quinn every day. I am so happy he inspired me to start running.

Diana: Quinn fue entrenado para ayudar, pero en ocasiones son los propios perros los que necesitan ayuda. Por ejemplo cuando los perros son abandonados. En 1999 Neil Rodríguez decidió ir a un refugio para perros, o shelter, en la ciudad de Nueva York. Quería adoptar un perrito.

Neil: My ex-girlfriend really wanted a dog. We argued a lot, and I thought a dog might save our relationship. We went to the shelter and I saw this Labrador and pit bull puppy with big eyes. My girlfriend at the time really wanted to adopt him. And once we did, I fell in love. We named the dog Poh, like the famous American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was ironic because Poh the dog was very happy and energetic!

Diana: Edgar Allan Poe fue uno de los escritores estadounidenses más importantes del siglo XIX, famoso por sus oscuros relatos sobre la muerte y el horror, nada que ver con lo alegre y travieso que era el perrito Poh.

Neil: In the end, my girlfriend and I broke up, but Poh stayed with me. We really liked each other. Poh always had a lot of energy, and I loved spending time with him. One day, we drove to New York City. We were waiting for the light to turn green on Fifth Avenue.

Diana: Fifth Avenue, la Quinta Avenida, es una de las calles más importantes e icónicas de Nueva York, llena de tiendas, siempre con tráfico y turistas.

Neil: Poh was still a very small puppy. He was just sitting on my lap, and then he jumped out of the window! He was so fast that he ran across Fifth Avenue to the other side of the street. Luckily he didn’t get hit by a car. I was really scared. I had to get out of my car to get him back. He wasn’t trying to escape, though. He just wanted to play! He always had so much energy.

Diana: Neil es un DJ de hip-hop y se ha presentado en todo Estados Unidos, incluso fue telonero en conciertos de Jay-Z. Viajaba a sus conciertos en coche y a menudo Poh iba con él.

Neil: Poh loved being in the car. He often put his head out of the window and sat next to me in the front seat. Sometimes he even tried to sit on me! At my performances, Poh slept next to me while I was DJing. He was there for the most important parts of my life, including when I met my fiancée.

Diana: Durante años, Neil y su perro fueron de concierto en concierto juntos. Pero un día, Poh comenzó a tener menos energía y menos interés por jugar. Tenía ya quince años.

Neil: As Poh got older, he lost most of his energy. So I took him to the veterinarian. After a lot of tests, I got the results. The veterinarian didn’t look happy, so I knew she had bad news. She told us that Poh was very sick. I asked, “How long do we have? A year? Or a month?” She said Poh only had one week to live.

Diana: Para Neil fue un golpe muy, muy duro.

Neil: For 15 years, Poh was my best friend, almost like a son. Knowing that Poh only had one week to live, I wanted him to have one last big adventure. My fiancée and I decided to take him on a goodbye trip. Three days later, we got in our car and started driving to the state of California. I always wanted Poh to put his feet in the Pacific Ocean.

Diana: De Nueva York a California hay casi 5,000 kilómetros. Para el viaje, Neil creó un perfil en Instagram llamado “Poh the dog’s big adventure”, “La gran aventura del perro Poh”. La cuenta llegó a tener más de 150,000 seguidores.

Neil: We took photos at a lot of famous places. We visited the monuments in Washington, D.C. We also saw the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Diana: Se detuvieron en más de treinta y cinco ciudades conduciendo aproximadamente19 200 kilómetros. Les tomó alrededor de cinco semanas... Y Neil cumplió su deseo de ver nadar a Poh en el Pacífico.

Neil: I loved watching Poh in the ocean in San Diego. Poh couldn’t walk very well, so, in Los Angeles, we bought a little cart. We used it to pull him around. He loved that he could still spend time with us outside. At the beach, I would pick him up and put him in the water. Once he was in the ocean, he became like a puppy again! He had so much energy. It was amazing.

Diana: Cuando regresó a Nueva York, Poh, a quien le habían dado solo una semana de vida, todavía rebosaba de energía. Neil se rehusaba a despedirse de Poh, por lo que decidió buscar el mejor tratamiento posible.

Neil: We wanted to make Poh comfortable during his last days. Through social media, we learned about a lot of treatments. One of Poh’s Instagram followers was a wonderful veterinarian named Dr. Buzby. She offered to give him acupuncture if we brought him to the state of North Carolina.

Diana: La clínica era un paraíso para los perros. Poh pasó unos días allí recibiendo tratamientos, y se fue con un montón de productos y ejercicios para probar en casa.

Neil: After Poh was diagnosed, he lived for almost a year! During that time, we had a lot of fun taking him to local beaches and to North Carolina for treatments. When we took him back to the veterinarian that initially diagnosed him, she was very surprised! She said that she would recommend a road trip to other people who had sick dogs.

Diana: Neil y su esposa planearon llevar a Poh a otro viaje en coche o road trip, esta vez a Canadá.

Neil: But, while we were driving, Poh died in my arms. He loved our road trips, so it was the perfect goodbye.

Diana: Desde que Poh falleció, Neil y su esposa han criado varios perros mayores. También comenzaron su propia fundación llamada “Live Like Poh”, o “Vive como Poh”, que recauda dinero para que los perros mayores vivan más cómodos en sus últimos días.

Neil: We expected Poh to only live a week, but he ended up living almost a whole year. He spent his last days doing something very special. And that is the message of our foundation: that older dogs can still have wonderful lives.

Diana: Neil Rodríguez y su esposa aún crían perros mayores en su apartamento en la ciudad de Nueva York, pero ahora con la ayuda de Lili, su hija de dos años.

Randy Pierce es el fundador de 2020 Vision Quest, una organización sin fines de lucro para personas con discapacidad visual. Vive en Nashua, New Hampshire, con su esposa Tracy y su perro guía Autumn.

Este episodio fue producido por Paige Sutherland, una periodista estadounidense que vive en Boston.

Gracias por haber escuchado “Relatos en inglés”. Nos encantaría saber qué te pareció este episodio. Puedes enviarnos un correo electrónico a podcast@duolingo.com, o también puedes enviarnos un mensaje de audio por WhatsApp al +1-703-953-93-69.

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“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media. Puedes suscribirte en Spotify, o tu plataforma preferida. También hay una versión en vídeo disponible en YouTube. Yo soy Diana Gameros. Thank you for listening!

Créditos

Este episodio es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.