Carbon suffered an injury while free running in fall 2004, which ultimately led to surgery followed by crate rest. She needed to be kept quiet for over a month so that her lungs could heal. We were hoping they were just bruised and nothing worse. There was no running for her during the winter, but in the spring we cautiously tried her out on a few runs. Her performance indicated she was not 100%, so we stopped allowing her to run.
Sadly, Carbon's lungs were too badly damaged, and she developed pleuritis. Her chest cavity filled up with solid material which did not allow her lungs enough room to expand. We did everything we could for her, but she simply could not get enough oxygen to her tissues, and she passed away on July 15, 2005.
