Meet Rocky, a Keizer pit bull that rescued a child from drowning at the Oregon Coast
A pit bull saves a toddler from drowning in the surf on the Oregon Coast. It should have made front-page headlines.
But those involved didn't blast what happened on social media, and no bystanders captured video of the dog sprinting across a Lincoln City beach, dunking his head in the ocean, grabbing the child's shirt with his teeth, and dragging her to safety.
It happened in the blink of an eye on a Saturday afternoon in August, the day a shy but lovable rescue dog named Rocky became an unsung hero.
Heather Howard remembers the dramatic rescue like it was yesterday
She never saw the child when Rocky, adopted by her family a month before, made a beeline to the water from where he had been frolicking in the sand with a corgi he had just met.
Howard ran after him and saw two women running in the same direction. Next, she saw Rocky pull "a little human" out of the ocean
When they all arrived at the water's edge, the girl was coughing and laughing as Rocky licked her face. She was uninjured, with only a hole in her shirt from the dog's grip.
The women seemed shaken, realizing what had happened and wondering how the child had slipped out of sight and into the water. Rocky distracted them by rolling over, and they rubbed his belly with gratitude.
Then everyone went their separate ways. Heather didn't catch anyone's name. She doesn't know where the family was visiting from. She guesses the girl was 1-2 years old.
Rocky's nurturing instinct has been seen around adults, too, including him watching over a man in a wheelchair they met that weekend at the beach.
The Oregon Humane Society used Rocky as a poster boy last fall for its annual Bowser's Boo Bash fundraiser, producing a video and sharing his story with the crowd. Rocky wore a Batman cape in the video.
Meet Rocky, a Keizer pit bull that rescued a child from drowning at the Oregon Coast
The shy and lovable rescue dog does not like water. But he didn't hesitate to rescue the toddler from the surf.
www.statesmanjournal.com
Hotel Rwanda reference for y’all) this one will get to live.
