A dog is being hailed for saving the life of a deaf student who was struggling through the Alaskan wilderness – and after news of the rescue was shared on the internet, more people came forward with news of the pup’s heroism.
21-year-old Amelia Milling had been on a solo 3-day hike through the Alaskan wilderness in June when she slipped in the snow and started to fall. After falling for roughly 300 feet, she crashed into a boulder and tumbled down another 300 feet. When she finally came to a stop, she was dazed, bruised, and bleeding.
That’s when Nanook the husky showed up.
Milling says that she thought the 7-year-old dog was a wolf until she saw that he had a collar and dog tag stating that he was a “Crow Pass Guide”. The injured Tennessee college student inferred that the dog was there to help her – and she was correct.
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Nanook led Milling back to the trail and hiked with her until it got dark and she pitched camp. The husky then stayed with her through the night until she continued her journey the next day.
“He gave me the motivation to get up and walk another seven miles,” Milling told CBC. “If he didn’t show up, I probably wouldn’t have gotten back up and kept walking.”
Nanook – also known as “Nookie” – came to Milling’s rescue again when they came across a freezing, fast-moving river. After watching Nookie cross the water, Milling gauged the situation and believed that she could follow suit. She tried to cross it once, only to fail. When she tried to cross a second time, she lost her footing and got pulled into the current.
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For 15 minutes, she struggled against the water until finally Nanook grabbed a strap of her backpack with his teeth and started pulling her to shore.
A wonderful story! Animals can be good rescuers–physically and emotionally 🙂