Hikers save a Maple Ridge woman and therapy dog from drowning in Gold Creek

Asia Temlett was walking in Golden Ears Park when her mother’s dog Raven chased a stick into the frigid waters of Gold Creek on May 7.

“It was just pure panic on his face, it was awful,” she said. “I thought I was going to lose my dog.”

Temlett jumped into the rushing waters to save him without hesitation.

The creek’s current swept both Temlett and Raven away for about 100 metres before they managed to cling desperately to a rock.

Luckily, members of the Persian Hikers of Vancouver group were having a picnic nearby.

“I saw her hands going up twice asking for help,” hiker Farshid Zahedi said.

“Nothing but saving her and her dog was in our brain at that time. Nothing else. We just jump in the water and get her out.”

Temlett had an emotional reunion with Zahedi and other members of the group more than a week after her rescue.

She embraced and thanked them for their help.

“They gave me food, they gave me warmth, and they gave me my life and gave me my dog’s life,” she said.

Temlett said she is recovering from some minor injuries, and Raven is doing well. The black lab works as a therapy dog for children facing trauma and depression.

“He is amazing at keeping children calm and helping them to overcome fears and troubles they’re dealing with,” Temlett’s father David said.

Temlett said she is eternally grateful to the strangers who helped her and Raven, saying “there’s nothing I can do that would ever be enough to repay them.”

Maybe so, but Temlett said her membership to the Persian Hikers of Vancouver is in the works.

— With files from John Hua