A dog may have saved a woman from dying alongside her husband after the couple – the animal’s owners – became lost for four frigid nights while on a walk in the woods in Maine, according to authorities.
John Helmstadter, 82, and Pamela Helmstadter, 72, of Alexander, Maine, left their home on Sunday 13 October, to go for a walk with their one-year-old black labrador, Lucy, officials said.
State wardens and deputies of the Washington county sheriff’s office began searching for the couple on Wednesday after receiving a call from their neighbor, according to Spectrum News.
The neighbor notified the police after becoming concerned that a package left on Tuesday on the Helmstadters’ porch had not been retrieved by Wednesday. There was also no sign of the couple or their black lab.
On Thursday, officials announced that they had found the couple.
A news release obtained by Spectrum News said Helmstadters had been in a forested area over a mile from the their home in Alexander.
John Helmstadter was dead, authorities said. But Pamela was alive, despite being severely hypothermic with a body temperature of 90.7F (32.6C).
Lucy, the black lab, was lying down atop Pamela’s chest. She acted protectively of Pamela when authorities first approached them to save them.
Officials with the Maine Warden Service said that they believe Lucy may have kept Pamela alive amid rain and nightly temperatures that fell as low as 26F (-3.3C).
“It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night, as well, to help keep her warm,” Sgt Josh Beal of the Maine warden service told the local news outlet WGME.
According to the press release reported by Spectrum News, first responders took Pamela to a hospital for doctors to observe her.
The release recounted how the Helmstadters had gone for a walk with Lucy in the woods behind their home, where there is a network of trails.
They had veered away from one of the trails when “John fell and was unable to get up,” the release said. “Neither of them had cellphones with them, and Pamela went to get help but got disoriented in the woods and could not get home.”
after newsletter promotion
Beal said that Pamela was “more physically capable” than her husband, which is why he stayed put while she went to find help.
According to Beal, Pamela “did very well to survive for [as] long” as she did.
“It rained all day Monday,” Beal said. “We had cooler temperatures. Wednesday night, it was 27 to 28 degrees.
Officials’ news release said Pamela had “given up hope of being found” when she heard a warden airplane circling overhead before her and Lucy’s rescue.
She later told WMTW that she ate peat moss for sustenance waiting to see if she would be rescued. She also said she was grappling with “sadness and grief” while recovering at the hospital.
“He was loving,” Pamela said of her late husband. “We were married for 31 years, and we had a good life together.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
