West Coast Now
The mystery of the two good samaritans in Nanaimo who saved the life of a two-year-old Australian shepherd named Pip has finally been solved.
“Heroes Found!” Courtnay Huber wrote in a recent Facebook post.
Huber recently went on the social media network in order to identify the two young men who provided assistance to her mother-in-law Michele Hillier–all she had was a photo of them but no names.
“I don’t normally do things like this, but reaching out to the internet to see if anyone in my friends circle or any friends of friends know either of these two men,” she wrote. “Please share with anyone you know to help us find these angels, they helped save Pip’s life and we would love to thank them all.”
The post was shared nearly 2,000 times and soon the two men were identified as David King and Brett Murphy.
“It was nice to see everyone’s reactions online and we were just super happy that Pip was OK and that we were able to help out,” Murphy later told the North Island Gazette. “It didn’t really seem like a heroic thing or anything like that … It really was just the right thing to do.”
The whole saga began during a peaceful New Year’s Eve stroll. Hillier and her partner Danny Dares were taking Pip for a walk along the Cable Bay trail.
Running through the woods, Pip unsuspectingly slammed right into a log and was immediately injured. Hillier tried to help her but Pip bit her hand out of shock.
Hillier and Dares attempted to carry the dog back to their car but struggled along the two kilometre journey. Thankfully, King and Murphy came along and sensed trouble.
“When we came upon them, [Hillier] had her hand wrapped … and they just looked stressed … her partner was quite out of breath,” King told the North Island Gazette. The two carried Pip the rest of the way.
“Pip was just a total champ,” Murphy said. “Maybe she was in shock, or who knows, but we couldn’t really tell from the dog’s reaction what the situation was.”
Their assistance ensured that Pip got to the veterinarian immediately–and ultimately saved the dog’s life.
“No one knew it at the time but Pip had ruptured her trachea,” Huber wrote on Facebook. “30 minutes later and she would have been gone.”
