“It’s really a miracle”
By Ashley Ortiz
Published on Dec 18, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Liana Lopez was working at her local YMCA last month when she suddenly received a heart-stopping message. She dropped everything and ran for the door.
“I got a text from my best friend that there was a fire and I should come home,” Lopez told The Dodo. “I ran home as fast as I could.”
Lopez raced to her house. She was still unsure of the gravity of the situation, but knew she had to get home to save someone trapped in her room: her beloved mouse, Chris Brown.
As she neared the house, her worst nightmare suddenly became a reality.
“When I got halfway towards my street, I could see the road was blocked off and crowds of people around my street,” Lopez said. “I saw there was smoke POURING OUT OF MY ROOM.”
Lopez panicked. She circled the house, begging every firefighter and their chief to save Chris.
“I told one firefighter, ‘PLEASE. He is small, but he is very important, and he’s very special to me. Please get him out. I don’t care about my clothes and stuff, JUST PLEASE get my pet mouse,’” Lopez shared.
But the blaze was too intense for anyone to enter the room, and the firemen could only work on extinguishing it from a distance. Lopez sat on the grass in horror as she watched flames billow out from her bedroom window until, finally, the fire subsided.
As soon as it was safe, a firefighter rushed inside to retrieve Chris. Lopez held her breath as the firefighter emerged with a charred cage in his hands, exclaiming the one word she’d been praying to hear.
“After 2-3 hours, he walked down the steps with the aquarium and said, ‘ALIVE,’” Lopez said.
Lopez dropped to her knees in relief. The firefighter placed the cage on the ground and lifted the lid to find a soaking-wet, trembling Chris inside.
Chris was covered in debris after the ceiling collapsed on his cage, and he was soaked from the firefighters’ hose. Chris was terrified, but the firefighter was right: Against all odds, the mouse was alive.
Everyone was astonished that Chris survived, but the poor guy wasn’t out of the woods yet. Lopez rushed him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with a double lung infection and pneumonia.
You can see more footage from his rescue here:
The mouse was visibly shaken from the ordeal, and the clicking noise he made with every breath worried Lopez. But she promised to do everything she could to help him, and soon began a rigorous treatment plan for Chris.
“Chris is on 2 different antibiotics twice a day. I also have to nebulize him with gentamicin and a saline solution every 12 hours,” Lopez said.
Sadly, Lopez and Chris lost everything in the fire. They are now homeless, and with Chris’ veterinary bills piling up, Lopez has no choice but to move across the country, leaving her job, school and friends behind.
As difficult as it will be to say goodbye to the life she was building for herself, Lopez is beyond grateful to still have her best bud, Chris, by her side.
“Emotionally, he has been my ray of sunshine throughout this,” Lopez said. “Every time I think about how sad I am about all of my lost belongings … I just keep telling myself all of those things are replaceable, and Chris is not, and I’m so lucky he survived. It’s really a miracle.”
To help Chris Brown get the veterinary care he desperately needs, you can donate to Liana’s GoFundMe here.
To keep up with Chris Brown’s recovery, you can follow him on Instagram.