June 19th 2007 11:07 am
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Michael James Keenan, who risked his life once before to save a stranger from drowning in the bay, died Monday at St. Francis Memorial Hospital from burns he suffered while rescuing a friend's dog from a fire.
Mr. Keenan turned 44 in March while being treated at San Francisco General Hospital. He was moved to St. Francis for continuing care of burns he had sustained over 80 percent of his body in the Feb. 6 house fire on Russian Hill.
An artist and sometime carpenter and fashion designer, Mr. Keenan grew up in Maine but spent most of the past 20 years on the West Coast. He started a hip clothing line with friends that honored his home state, called Maine-iacs, featuring durable designs and vibrant colors.
"He was the kind of guy who would walk into any pub and walk out with 15 friends," said Owen Kelly, who knew Mr. Keenan since childhood.
In 2001, Mr. Keenan saw a car drive into the bay near the St. Francis Yacht Club. He jumped into the water, broke out a window with a heavy wrench and managed to pull a woman to safety. Her husband drowned.
"He will always be my hero for life," the rescued woman, Heather Rosnow-Laarif, said Monday.
Mr. Keenan had been house sitting for a friend on Bonita Street, waiting for renovations to be completed on his own apartment, when the early morning blaze broke out. He made it out of the townhouse safely before realizing the dog was still inside.
Mr. Keenan was a lifelong dog lover. He later told a longtime friend, Frank Hsieh, that he had thought he could get the dog quickly, but found he had to search a while before finding the 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Bobby, cowering under a bed.
The dog survived after treatment at a local animal hospital.
For several weeks, friends and family said they were optimistic about Mr. Keenan's chances. But he suffered an infection recently that set back his progress, and he had a stroke Sunday night, Kelly said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/19/ BAGQUQHIC512.DTL
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