Heroic rescue on Oahu: Dog rescued from 3,000-meter cliff in Hawaii

Sergio Florian I ran Afternoon by a mountain on the east side of oooh When something caught his attention: a dog White and gray are perched on the edge of a 3,000 meter cliff. The dog was in trouble.

“I was shocked when I saw it, because I’ve never seen it the dog At such a height,” he said. Florian44 years old, who trains for Marathon With sloping roads behind his house Kawa, HawaiiOnce or twice a week.

This dog She was dehydrated and her face and neck were covered in bruises. Florian quickly realized that he was too weak to walk down the steep trail. Pu’u Manman without help. “I was on the most treacherous part of the trail, wedged between two rocks, and it was almost sunset.”He said, there was inequality in all directions.

He called the dog and slowly approached him. I knew I had to take it 800 meters down the steepest part of the four-mile trail.

Florian He picked it up carefully dog, weighing about 45 kg, and began to descend the rocky path when a strong wind blew around him. “I was trembling and afraid, and I could feel her warm belly against my skin as I put my arm around her.“, account Florian, remembering that day, 28 February. “She seemed very gentle and loving, but she was very weak, as if she had been there for a long time.”

What Florian didn’t know at the time was that the dog’s name was Stevie and that he had been missing for three days since he set out to chase a wild boar. The feral pig population on Oahu has exploded in recent years. Hours before Florian’s hike, another hiker came across the dog, but was unable to bring it down himself, and posted it on the Oahu hiking community’s private Facebook page.

“People had already heard about the dog and tried to find its owner, but I didn’t know what was going on,” says Florian. “All I knew was that this poor girl needed help and it was up to me to take her down.”

“Abandonment was not an option,” he said. It took about an hour to carefully descend the mountain while holding dog In his hands to keep him from falling, he said, there are steep cliffs on either side of the trail. “The lower part of the trail is more popular: many people go there to take photos of the spectacular views,” he explains. Florian. “There aren’t many people who go high because it’s too dangerous. If you fall, you are lost“

“I have fear and respect for this place, but I feel comfortable because I have been training here for a long time,” he added. “I know where I put my feet when I go up and down.” Florian Said to work as Physiotherapist and helps people with spinal cord injuries learn to walk again. “My hands are very strong because I spend all day lifting people,” he said. “There aren’t many people who could have taken that dog, but I knew I could.”

He said he stopped several times on the way down to rest with the dog and assured her it would be safe soon. “I kept telling her, ‘Don’t worry, girl, you’re doing great,'” says Florian. In a video he recorded during the ordeal, he is seen petting the dog and saying: “I don’t know who this girl belongs to, but we have to find out.”

At the highest part of the descent, he grasped the rock with one hand and held on dog As she slid onto her butt, he said. “I had to balance and keep her on top of me,” he explains. “I tried not to go too fast so he wouldn’t panic.”

It was around 6pm when he reached the end of the trail and led the way dog at his house. his wife, Diane FlorianI saw messages about Steve on social media, and helped locate the owner, he said. Island News Informed the rescue. “While we were waiting for the owner to come, we gave it to him Steve Lots of water and little food,” he said. Sergio Florian. “She’s a good dog – I hate to see her go.”

The owner did not respond to an interview request The Washington Post, but Florian said he thanked her for getting his dog back. “I felt like I developed a bit of a bond with Stevie along the way, and I’d love to see her again,” he said.

That night, after the rescue, Florian published in Instagram That his hands hurt from carrying them Steve, but his heart was full. More than 24,000 people have liked the post. He wrote, “I cannot leave another living being in such trouble. “I like happy endings.”

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