Ten Times Animals Saved People
- tigercatmariah
- Jun 12, 2016
- 6 min read
Animals are filled with empathy, compassion and loyalty. It doesn't take much searching to find millions of stories about various kinds of animals expressing these acts amongst each other. Here are ten examples from which there are many, where we can see animals expressing empathy and compassion to us humans! These stories are ones we can learn from. As a truly destructive species, we must keep in mind how far our animal friends go to protect us and return the favour.
1. Vietnamese Pig Saves Woman from a Cardiac Arrest
After Jack and Jo- Anne Altsman formed a tightly knit bond with a 150 pound Vietnamese pig, the gentle giant proved her loyalty and compassion to the pair on August 4th 1998. Jack had gone out fishing, leaving the 61 year old Jo- Anne alone at home with Lulu, their pet pig and two dogs. Jo- Anne had previously suffered from a cardiac arrest just 18 months earlier. Jo- Anne fell into a second cardiac arrest on this day and she recalls seeing Lulu crying and screaming when she realized something was wrong. Lulu immediately sprung into action, pushing through a doggy door, escaping the fence and running onto the highway where she then lay in front of oncoming traffic. Eventually a man stopped for the pig and followed her back into her home where Jo-Anne was laying in pain. He called the ambulance and Jo- Anne was rushed to hospital where open heart surgery was performed. Doctors explained to her that if it wasn't for her pig she would have died.
2. Parrot Saves Toddler from Choking to Death
In November 2008 Megan Howard was enjoying her breakfast with her two year old daughter Hannah. Megan left for just a few moments to use the washroom and in this time Hannah began choking on her food. Willie, their quaker parrot noticed the child in distress and began flapping his wings wildly. He then began screaming, "Mama baby!" repeatedly and urgently. Megan came running out to see what was happening. She found her daughter with blue lips, unable to breathe and quickly performed the Heimlich Maneuver on her which saved her life. Megan believes that if it weren't for Willie she wouldn't have made it to Hannah in time.
3. Rabbit Saves Many from Diabetic Coma
Victoria and Simon Steggall were in their home enjoying themselves when Simon appeared to have nodded off on the sofa. Victoria went about her business, assuming nothing was wrong. Simon had lived with diabetes since his childhood and expressed that he was often unaware of when his blood sugar was dropping. Simon had not in fact fallen asleep on the sofa that day, but instead fell into a coma due to dangerously low blood sugar levels. Dory, their rabbit noticed that this was no ordinary nap and jumped up onto his chest. She began thumping erratically on his chest, grabbing the attention of Victoria who then realized there was something wrong. She immediately called the paramedics who were able to bring him out of the coma.
4. A Pod of Dolphins Save Man from Great White Shark
On August 28th 2007 Todd Endris decided to have a day of fun with his friends and do some surfing in the Californian waves. The fun ended when he came face to face with a 12- 15 foot Great White Shark. The shark initially attempted an attack but narrowly missed, just clamping down on Todd's surf board. The second attack, Todd wasn't so lucky. The shark fit his entire torso into its mouth, ripping open his back entirely. As if this wasn't already bad enough, the shark came back a third time, biting and attempting to swallow Todd's right leg. This bite reached all the way to his bone, but Todd was able to kick the shark in the face with his other leg, fending it off for a couple moments. This is when the heroes arrived. A pod of dolphins came to Todd's aid forming a circle around him. The wall of dolphins fended off the giant shark long enough for Todd to make it to shore where his friends and lifeguards came rushing to his aid. After a long and hard surgery, Endris is recovering and has returned to surfing.
5. Gorilla Saves Child After Falling Into Enclosure
On August 16th 1996 at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, a small three year old boy escaped his mother's clutches and squeezed through the barrier of the gorilla enclosure. He fell 15 feet on to the hard ground where he lost consciousness. While holding her small baby Koola on her back, the female Lowland Gorilla Binti Jua approached the boy. Much to onlookers surprise, the gorilla scooped up the boy and gently cradled him and caressed him. She ensured other gorillas did not place a threat to the boy, and took him to the enclosure's entrance where zookeepers could then retrieve the child.
6. Sea Lion Saves Man After Attempted Suicide
Kevin Hines experienced an episode due to his bipolar disorder on September 25th 2000. He was just nineteen years old on the day he decided to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. Moments after he jumped, Hines recalls a sudden realization that he had made an awful mistake. He crashed into the water, injuring himself seriously but was luckily still alive and conscious. Hines recalls feeling something brush up below him, fearing it was a shark. In reality, it was a sea lion bumping him up to ensure his head remained above water. The animal did this long enough for a passerby to notice Hines and call for help.
7. Pit Bull Saves Family from Fire
Rhonda and Evelyn Westenberger and their six dogs were asleep in their Oklahoma home on February 26th 2013. During the night, the house caught on fire and began slowly filling with flame and smoke. Baby, their ten year old pit bull began barking and jumping on the women until they woke up. The sisters managed to escape the home in time, encounter flame in the hallways as they ran out. Baby came out with them, confirming they were safe and then ran back into the burning house for the other five dogs. She was able to lead them all to safety, grabbing one by the neck and dragging it from underneath the bed. The entire family was safe thanks to her heroic acts.
8. Beavers Saves Boy from Freezing
Rheal Guindon a young Ontarian boy went on a camping trip with his parents. His parents decided to take a relaxing fishing trip while Rheal stayed ashore. Tragically, he witnessed his parent's boat tip over and the couple drown too far from him to be able to help them. In a desperate search for help, Rheal began walking to find the nearest town. When the sun set he knew he could no longer keep going. The night grew dark and cold and Rheal found himself shivering on the ground alone. Soon, he felt furry bodies come up and lay beside him. Their warmth comforted him enough to help him go to sleep, as he assumed they were dogs. In the morning, he woke to three beavers cuddled beside him who had saved his life from the below freezing temperatures of the night.
9. Sea Turtle Saves Woman from Shipwreck
Candelaria Villanueva was aboard the passenger ship Aloha near Manilla on June 2nd 1974 when it began sinking. 243 passengers of 277 were rescued on the first day of the rescue search but Candelaria was not one of them. She would have surely drowned if it were not for a sea turtle who came to her aid and gave her something to keep her at the surface. Two days, this turtle remained with her until a rescue crew finally found her. When the rescue crew separated her from the turtle, it was observed circling the area multiple times as if to confirm she no longer needed it before heading off into the deep water.
10. Deer Saves Woman from Attacker
Near 1 am in Ohio on February 26th 2012 a woman was leaving a party and heading home, passing a field and a small forest. Out of nowhere a male attacker jumped out from his hiding spot and grabbed her from behind, choking her with her own purse and hitting her in the face. He dragged her deeper into the field where he hoped no one would see them. A deer who was sleeping in the field heard the commotion and was startled awake. It ran toward the man who also got startled by the deer and ran away. She was able to leave the field and call 911.
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