The cardinal instincts of a dog named North saved the life of one man injured while hiking in the Croatian mountains.
The 8-month-old Alaskan malamute reportedly lay atop his companion, Grga Brkić, for 13 hours — thereby staving off hypothermia — after the man fell nearly 500 feet down a snowy slope and suffered a severe leg fracture, according to local media reports.
The accident occurred while Brkić was clambering down the highest peak of the Velebit mountain range “on extremely inaccessible terrain,” emergency services reported, at about 5,900 feet above Croatia’s Adriatic coastline.
Unable to reach Brkić and North, two additional hikers who spotted the pair in peril were able to send for rescuers, who later called it “one of the most difficult rescue operations” they had completed.
More than two dozen first responders arrived at the scene, where they found the dog had “curled around him and warmed him.”
Croatia’s emergency mountaineers, the Hrvatska Gorska Služba Spašavanja, later shared a photo of the hero canine, who refused to detach from his friend during the long ordeal, even as they transferred Brkić to a helicopter. The image shows North still cuddled with his mate while lying on a stretcher.
“Friendship and love between man and dog have no boundaries,” rescuers wrote in a Sunday post, translated from their Slavic tongue to English on Facebook. “His loyalty did not stop even from the arrival of the savior … From this example we can all learn about caring for one another.”
Josip Brozičević, head of the Croatian mountain rescue services in Gospić, lauded the pup’s heroic actions to Total Croatia News. “The dog was curled up next to the owner in the pit the entire time; he warmed his owner with his body, thus preventing the mountaineer’s significant hypothermia who suffered a severe fracture of the lower leg and ankle when he fell,” he said.
Despite North’s heroism, the HGSS cautioned against bringing dogs on arduous hikes where specialized hiking equipment is required.
Brkić was moved to a hospital where he underwent an emergency operation, while the dog remained unharmed. “The minutes and seconds before they arrived were so slow,” Brkić told reporters, but “this little dog is a real miracle,” he added.
Since Sunday’s rescue, the Brkić family has shared an update on Brkić and North, alongside an image of the smiling pup. “North is home saying hello and relaxing,” wrote Antonija Sjauš Brkić. “Grga is going to be fine. HGSS … we have no words … thank you!!!”