Dog Saves Deaf Hiker From 700-Foot Fall Down Alaska Mountain

Nanook is a husky who lives along a popular hiking trail in Alaska, and despite having no rescue training, he’s been helping hikers for years.

By nowproducerdave on July 2, 2018
(Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

This dog not only is totally adorable, but an amazing rescue worker. Nanook, a husky, lives off the trail that runs up a mountain in Chugach State Park. 21-year-old hiker Amelia Milling is deaf, and was going on a solo hiking trip. She slipped and fell, sliding back down the mountain about 700 feet after “bouncing” off a boulder.

Amelia says after she landed at the bottom, she spotted Nanook. She says at first she thought he was a wolf, but soon spotted his blue collar. That’s when she knew he was there to help. Nanook led Amelia back to where the trail starts, and then stayed overnight with her in her tent. The next day when she opened the tent, Nanook was already ready to go for a hike. Amelia packed up her things, and set off up the trail once more.

Later on up the trail, Amelia fell into a river after losing her footing in the fast-moving water and slipping. Nanook was there again to rescue her, grabbing her backpack strap and pulling her out of the water. She curled up in her sleeping bag to keep warm, and Nanook kept licking her face. Eventually she activated her emergency transponder. Nanook curled up with her to keep her warm.

Rescuers arrived with a helicopter to pull Amelia off of the trail, and they brought Nanook too. Nanook was later returned to his owner, who says this is nothing new. “He’s been doing it for years now… He just does it on his own,” said Scott Swift. Nanook has no rescue training at all, he just goes out and protects people. A while ago, he pulled a young girl from the same river. See more on Nanook and Amelia’s story here.

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