One summer morning in 2019, Andy the Dachshund did not greet his owner, Lorraine Young, with his usual tail wag. Andy could no longer walk. He was paralyzed with a life-threatening spinal condition that needed immediate attention, including a high-risk surgery. Working from a CT scan, the doctors at Saint Francis Veterinary Center in Woolwich Township, NJ teamed up with the human doctors over at Thomas Jefferson University’s Health Design Lab to create exact-to-scale physical 3D replicas of Andy’s spine and spinal cord that helped to guide the veterinarians at Saint Francis during surgery. 3D printing technology has been used for a number of years in human medicine, but Andy’s case marks the first time 3D printing was used for this type of case in veterinary medicine.

The R&J consumer marketing team was tasked with pitching Andy’s story to local Philadelphia and national news outlets after his surgery to help announce the groundbreaking new partnership between Saint Francis and Thomas Jefferson. With compelling imagery and videos, the team at R&J was able to secure feature pieces on the remarkable procedure on national TV on NBC’s The TODAY Show, and with two of the top media outlets in the Philadelphia market, the Philadelphia Inquirer and CBS Philly Channel 3.

Andy is still recovering from his spinal surgery and makes it back to visit Saint Francis twice a week for his physical therapy appointments, where he runs obstacle courses and works out on the underwater treadmill.

Be sure to check out coverage in the links below.

The Philadelphia Inquirer / CBS Philly / The TODAY Show