The Army medic Angie McDonnell owes her life to four-year-old Vidar after he found a stash of explosives hidden by the Taliban in Afghanistan. When she heard that the Belgian Malinois was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and faced being put down, she made it her mission to give him a home.
Post traumatic stress disorder! This is the first time I've given consideration to a dog's mental state after going through horrific events. However, it stands to reason that man's best friend can suffer just as much trauma as a person.
Angie was on a routine patrol near Camp Bastion in April 2012 when Vidar detected the massive collection of guns and grenades. Then, explosives experts managed to recover and disable them.
Reservist Angie is convinced she and her comrades would have been on the receiving end of the weapons if Vidar had not hunted them down. She appreciated the heroic way the dog saved his army companions and became best friends with him.
With great regret, she left him amid the ravages of fighting once her duty finished and returned to normal society. “When I heard he’d been retired after starting to get scared, I knew I had to track him down to help him. I would have done anything to make sure he had a loving home.”
Vidar is now living in happy retirement with Angie, who works as a paramedic. She said, “I’m so happy I can repay him for saving my life while we served together.”
It's great to hear about hero dogs. They perform so many courageous tasks for their human friends. They act as companions and help the disabled, they search and rescue, they work alongside and they never judge their human companions.
Maybe you can recall a way a dog helped someone in distress.