A very adorable Alaskan husky is being hailed a hero and credited with helping rescue an injured woman on a hiking trail near Anchorage.
Nanook, the 7-year-old dog, helped pull the hiker, Amelia Milling, out of the Eagle River when she fell from 700-feet from the mountain above.
21-year-old Amelia Milling is deaf. She is always challenging herself to do adventurous and exciting things with her life – like conquering giant mountains in Alaska. Sadly, during her solo trip, something went awry and she fell hundreds of feet down the steep mountain slope.
Amelia, a college student from Tennessee, was hiking the Crow Pass Trail when she lost her balance and fell over 300 feet, she then hit a boulder, sliding an additional 300 feet. Miraculously, Amelia wasn’t seriously injured. Nothing was broken and she could still walk.
Even though she seemed to be fine physically, Amelia’s relief quickly turned to fear when she realized she now had no idea where she was.
Since the hiker had fallen so far from the trail, Amelia was completely turned around and lost. She was forced to spend the night in the frigid temperatures, wondering what to do next. The next day, however, is when a miracle happened.
The scared and lost hiker noticed what looked like a white wolf off in the distance, but it seemed to approach her with excitement. That’s when she noticed the collar around its neck. It was a guide dog named Nanook!
“My first response was, where’s the owner?” she told News.com. “Then I saw the collar and it said (the dog) was a Crow Pass guide, and I realized that he was there to help me.”
As it turned out, Nanook was trained to locate and help hikers who had strayed and fell from the trail. It was Amelia’s saving grace.
Nanook and Amelia needed to spend yet another night in the wilderness, however, she felt much safer knowing that the dog was there to help guide her back to the trail. During the trek back to safety, Amelia and Nanook needed to ford the Eagle River.
While attempting to cross the freezing river, Amelia slipped and fell into the glacial waters. Nanook didn’t hesitate to help grab her and bring her to shore – yet another beautiful miracle.
“She slipped and fell, and the dog was able to save her and get her back to shore,” Lt. Eric Olsen said with the Alaska State Troopers.
At this point, Amelia decided it was finally time to press the emergency beacon on her GPS transmitter. The signal was soon picked up by search and rescue who then sent out a helicopter to locate her and the dog.
Both Amelia and Nanook were airlifted to safety – both of them unharmed, although Amelia suffered minor injuries from her tumble in the river.
Even though the rescuers are the ones that arrived with the helicopter, Amelia and the rescue team credit Nanook as being the real hero that day.
“The dog was a real help,” police chief Eric Olsen told News.com. “He’s Alaska’s version of Lassie.”
As it turns out, Nanook belongs to Scott Swift, a man that lives at the end of the 39-kilometer trail. He is known for regularly accompanying hikers to the Eagle River Nature Center – although, the dog does not have any formal training.
“He’s been doing it for years now,” Mr. Swift said. “He just does it on his own.”
And this isn’t Nanook’s first rescue – a few years ago, he helped a girl out of the same river.
“This is the second time I’ve heard of he has saved someone from drowning in that river,” Mr. Swift said.
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