One little girl found herself stranded after floods hit her Australian homestead, but her canine hero never left her side.
At around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, three-year-old Matilda wandered off from her family home on the Noreena Downs Homstead in Pilbara.
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The area has been hit with heavy rainfalls recently, leading to a few of the nearby creeks being full of water.
While the girl was able to make her way through one of the creeks, the water quickly rose again, leaving her stranded with her Jack Russell dog, Wolfy, the Western Australia Police force wrote in a statement.
When her family noticed she was missing at around 4 p.m. that day, the community jumped in to help. Local helicopters and volunteers, as well as the Newman Horse Riders Association, lent a hand in the search.
After nearly a full day alone and without shelter, she was found by a helicopter around 3.5 kilometres away from home.
Her dog was by her side, and had been the entire time, protecting her.
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The police force shared a photo of Matilda with her two unnamed parents. When Matilda was found, her hair, legs and clothing were caked in mud, but she was otherwise fine, authorities reported.
Her family dog stands idly in the background, unaware of his new hero title.
Pilbara’s police superintendent, Kim Massam, praised everyone involved in the search, especially the dog who “stayed with her that whole time,” the BBC reports.
The photographer at Big Tree Little Tree Photography shared a snapshot of Matilda’s father holding Wolfy, writing: “This little dog is the hero to our family. He spent the whole night and today with Matilda while she was missing in the bush. Both were found safe and well today.
“Wolfy is the goodest boy a little girl could wish for.”
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