An elderly woman was rescued from a lake in Lawrenceville, Georgia, after a dog apparently sensed her and alerted its owner.
Abby Leathers had just settled down with a cup of tea to watch an episode of “Batman” on Tuesday morning, Feb .6, while her pit bull Bruce sat at the front door, whining and sniffing. She thought it strange and annoying, but then the whines turned more urgent.
Once outside, Bruce bolted to the lake right by her home. She followed him as fast as she could and found him at the edge of the lake.
“Just beyond him, in the water, was a half-naked, elderly woman,” she said. “I immediately tied his leash to a tree and waded into the water some to get her.”
The woman was confused, scared, and cold. She spoke an Ethiopian dialect that Leathers couldn’t understand—she couldn’t even discern the woman’s name or where she lived.
Leathers brought the woman in, dried her off, and gave her some clothes and hot tea.
“I had called 911 and they responded very quickly,” Leathers said. “Soon I had 3 cops, 3 paramedics, and one very confused and lost woman wearing my robe in my living room.”
The police told her they had received a call about a missing elderly woman nearby. The woman’s family eventually rushed over.
“I had no chance of verbally communicating with her, but I held her hands when she extended hers so I hope it helped,” Leathers said. “It was an eventful morning, and someone’s mom and grandmother did not freeze or drown in a pond because of my wonderful pitty bull Bruce.”