Loyal Boydy stayed with his owner and kept him warm during his 4-day ordeal.
After 76-year-old Herbert Schutz wrecked his car on his remote farm located at the foot of an Australian mountain range, he knew the chances of being found were slim. In agony and with no protection from the elements, he knew that he was facing certain death. But the one thing that he did have was his trusty dog Boydy who sprang into action to keep his master alive.
Schutz crashed his four-wheel-drive vehicle into a tree on his property in South Wales. Although he managed to get out of the car, when he did, the car rolled over, pinning the elderly man under the chassis. Even when temperatures dropped to 39 degrees, the loveable canine snuggled next to his owner to keep him warm and never left his side. With no food or water and sustaining severe injuries, Schutz knew that he was in trouble.
Schutz's worried daughter and a few neighbors set out to look for elderly man after she was unable to contact him for a few days. Neighbor Eric Merritt and a friend located the wrecked car but could not see Schutz anywhere around the vehicle. "We saw the car and that no one was in it," Merritt said. "Then his dog ran around the front of the car and then we heard him call for the dog. That's when we found him."
Merritt said that Schutz had Boydy's hair all over him, indicating that the dog had provided body warmth to his owner because of the low temperatures at night. But Boydy's protection didn't stop there. "Even when we found him, the dog ran straight to his side and cuddled up to him. He didn't want to leave him even then," Merritt said.
The elderly man suffered a fractured skull, two broken hips and a dislocated shoulder. His daughter feels that it is "amazing" that he survived with no food and no water. She also says that "she is extremely thankful to her neighbors for locating her father and then staying with him until the emergency and rescue services arrived." She is also very thankful that Boydy was there to help her Dad stay warm during his ordeal.