A child almost drowned swimming near a river mouth at Port Noarlunga in South Australia last week, but amazingly, he was pulled to safety by a dog in a life jacket not a moment too soon. The pooch is being hailed as a hero.
Jamie and Rob Osborn had brought their dog, Max, to the river along with a few friends. There, they spotted a young boy, about 11 years old, in the water in distress.
“[He] got caught in the current and started to panic,” Jamie shared on Facebook on Jan. 22, after the incident. “Instead of swimming to the side, he tried to swim against it and was getting nowhere.”
Her husband, Rob, was quick to respond. He immediately told their dog, Max, to get into the water, and shouted to the boy to call Max over.
The good dog did as he was told and swam right over to the struggling child. Max’s life jacket had rings on the sides, and the child was able to grab hold and hitch a ride to safety.
“When he swam over, the kid grabbed onto his life jacket and Max towed him to safety,” Jamie wrote.
Rob and Jamie’s daughter, Navaeh, told Daily Star that the boy was certainly “bound to drown any second.”
But Max’s hero work was not over. Once the boy was safe, the couple noticed another child in distress.
“One of Nev’s friends also found it a bit tough,” Jamie wrote, referencing one of her daughter’s friends. “[Max] went back and got her too.”
Unfortunately, the family had to leave soon after the rescue, so they were unable to exchange words with the boy’s family. Rob told Daily Star that he would love to hear how the young man is doing, however.
“I’d love to catch up with him and see how he’s doing, just see if he’s alright,” Rob said.
For Max, it was just another day being man’s best friend. Rob added that even though he got lots of attention and praise for his help, Max doesn’t seem to know that he did something extraordinary.
“He’s definitely a hero,” Rob said. “He doesn’t know it, he was just doing what he was told.”
Still, after Max’s hero work garnered media attention, he now has his own Facebook page, and his family has showered him with love.
“Tonight,” Jamie wrote on social media, “the world’s happiest dog is also a hero!”
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