Martin and his dog 8-year-old boxer, Roxie had been living out of his car at the Stop and Shop in East Haven when the heat of the car stopped working.
As reported by The Hartford Courant in a phone interview, Martin said “The car didn’t have any heat. I put thick blankets over ourselves. There was ice on the windows and I was trying to scrape ‘SOS’ in the ice. I was trying so hard, using all my strength, trying to pass whatever test God was giving me,” Lillis said in a phone interview from his hotel room. But I was shivering and I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided I can’t let her live like this. So I called 911.”
In the early morning of 2 am, Martin was then sent to a local hospital where he was evaluated for hypothermia. While Roxie was taken into the care of the town animal control.
Thursday Evening, Martin was released from the hospital and looking for a place where both he and Roxie could stay. ACO Emily Higgins had an idea to use her hotel points to get Martin and Roxie a room for 2 nights! (via. Hartford Courant)
That wasn't the end of the good fortune coming Martin and Roxie's way, the story made its way to Facebook where the community came together to set up a Go Fund Me to raise funds to help Martin and Roxie pay for a place to stay warm and together.
To read more on this story from The Hartford Courant click here!
A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist Martin and Roxie. You can view the page here. As of Monday morning, it had reached more than $35,000 of a $2,000 goal.