Owner Rescued by Pit Bull in State Park Passes On

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Last year, Dona Timoney rescued "Lilly" from a North Carolina "drug house."

Lilly returned the favor two weeks ago after Timoney collapsed on a sugar sand path near the cranberry bogs in Double Trouble State Park.

The little dog ran up the path, her leash dragging behind her. Bayville resident Frank Delarosa found Lilly, picked her up and started towards the park office.

But Lilly squirmed and Delarosa put her down. She sped back down the path she had just come from and led him to Dona, who was unconscious.

Timoney, 51, of Beachwood, NJ, was taken to Community Medical Center, and then airlifted to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Thursday night, her friend Debbie McConnell announced on Berkeley Patch that Timoney had died Wednesday night:

"It is with great sadness that I inform you Lilly's owner Dona has passed away last night," McConnell wrote. "She will be greatly missed. Lilly will be staying in her own home with Dona's daughter."