Gus Kenworthy‘s rescue dog, Beemo, has died.
On Sunday, the Olympic skier revealed on Instagram that his dog — who he rescued from a South Korean meat farm during the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang — died due to a birth defect that caused him to have an enlarged heart.
“Two days ago my beautiful baby Beemo passed away. It was completely unexpected and Matt and I are beside ourselves trying to cope with her loss,” the athlete, who shared his pet with boyfriend Matthew Wilkas, wrote in a social media post.
He continued, “Beemo was truly the best thing that ever happened to me and I feel so fortunate for our borrowed time together. I’ve never loved anything or anyone in the way that I loved that dog and she is and will always be deeply missed.”
He detailed a horrific week of deteriorating health for the puppy.
“For a week or so we’d been worrying because she was showing less and less interest in her food,” wrote Kenworthy. “There were several trips to the vet and on our final visit this past Thursday I asked them do a full body scan in case there was an underlying issue they had missed. Beemo went into a panic attack during the x-rays and her breathing became rapid and shallow.”
Unfortunately, the test brought to light a serious and incurable issue.
“The scan revealed that her lungs were deteriorated and that her heart was too big for her body – a birth defect we had no way of knowing about,” Kenworthy explained. “Unable to treat her there, I rushed her to the emergency vet where a breathing tube was put down her throat. They hoped that with a respirator breathing for her they could get her vitals back to a normal level so she could be treated but they were never able to do so.”
He pointed out that even if they caught the problem earlier, there would not have been any treatment for this particular condition.
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Kenworthy ended the emotional post with a plea to other pet parents: “If any of you have pets up in doggy heaven please tell them to go find Bee because she could really use a good play date right now.”
Kenworthy had previously brought home two dogs from Sochi, Russia, during the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He found the dogs, Jake and Mishka, roaming near the Olympic Village. They now live with Kenworthy’s ex-boyfriend in Canada and are healthy, full-grown social media superstars.