Labrador Retriever Saves Life Of Teenager Lost In The Mountains
A yellow Labrador Retriever named Max helped to save the life of a 14-year-old boy, lost for almost two days in a Mexican mountain wilderness. The loyal and friendly dog refused to leave Juan Heriberto Treviño’s side until he was finally rescued.
Treviño was attending a summer camp in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range last week when the incident occurred. He accidentally became separated from his group when he went off searching for firewood in the Galeana area in Nuevo León. While walking along, he accidentally slipped and fell down into a ravine.
“I fell into a river that had no water and walked the valley searching for a way out,” the boy told the Spanish language news service Mexnoticias.
Boy Lost In Mountains Is Kept Alive By A Friendly Dog https://t.co/PMTuE3vTNb #news #feedly
— Kirsten Crippen (@kmcripn) July 25, 2016
While the teenager was slightly injured and felt a little disorientated, he soon realized he was not alone in the ravine. It turns out Max, a friendly dog Treviño had met only a short time earlier in the camp, had followed him on his firewood hunting trek. The Labrador retriever apparently felt like going for a walk with him.
Lost and feeling confused, Treviño was having a problem finding his way back to the camp and took shelter under a tree for the night. Max the Labrador Retriever refused to leave the boy, keeping him company during that long and cold night.
According to Treviño, the dog’s company made all the difference to him during the night in the frigid mountain air.
He told the Spanish language news service Noticieros Televisa, “I grabbed [Max] and put him on my legs to not be so cold and hugged the dog.”
The following morning, Treviño set out again in an attempt to find a way back to the camp through the rugged terrain. The loyal and friendly dog saved him once again, by finding a puddle of water from which they were both able to quench their thirst.
It was on Tuesday that the group of rescuers and locals finally found the boy, after two men on horseback came upon Treviño with Max.
With the Labrador Retriever’s warm physical presence and loyal friendship, Treviño had been able to survive the 44-hour long ordeal well enough to be found by the search party and was air-lifted to safety.
Two locals, Leoncio Ramírez and Jesús Eliud, said when the boy saw them he ran and hugged them.
En México un perro cuidó a un niño que cayó en un barranco y estuvo perdido durante dos noches https://t.co/z4dQ87R2oD
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) July 21, 2016
Local authorities said that while the story had a happy ending, it could have been far worse for Treviño if it wasn’t for the help of his canine companion.
Martin Castillo, deputy director of the local police, told Mexnoticias how easy it is to get lost in that area, and how lucky the boy was to find the friendly dog.
“In that part of the mountain it is very easy to get lost. In addition, it’s very cold at night, as it is very high,” Castillo said.
“The child was lucky to find the dog.”
When they found Treviño, he was “somewhat malnourished and very tired, but stable,” according to Castillo.
Reportedly the Treviño family was so grateful to Max for saving their young son, they initially wanted to adopt the Labrador Retriever. However, it turns out the loyal dog already has a good home with owners who live in the area.
[Photo via Flickr by Manuel J. Prieto, cropped and resized /CC BY 2.0]
