Truck Driver Reunites With His Dog After Indiana Toll Road Crash

A truck driver was taking a curve onto the westbound Indiana Toll Road when his semi-trailer rolled over—causing his Dalmatian mix Finn, to run away.

April 20 was the Friday Lucas Cardona had the accident and thought he lost his 6-month-old dog forever.

“My first thought was about him. I knew that I was okay and I needed to find him,” Cardona said.

Porter emergency officials launched an immediate community-wide search (including the use of a drone and social media platforms to spread the word), which resulted in several days spent looking for Finn.

Cardona eventually had to leave to go back to work, but Porter EMT Mary Esserman continued to search.

“I’be got three dogs of my own and to think of losing them in a situation of this and how scared they would be, it broke my heart. So I had to do something about it,” she said.

Esserman was finally able to find Finn four days after the crash and on Saturday, Cardona returned from Michigan to be reunited with the dog he says is like a son to him.

“I set the phone down on the ground and Lucas was yelling for him and he came over and licked the phone,” Esserman said.

Porter EMS Director Ann Brandl said this type of work that Esserman exemplified is a direct reflection on the department’s work ethic as a whole.

“I don’t know. It was just something in my heart I had to do,” Esserman expressed.