Two doctors in Ireland thought they were taking a break from saving lives when they set out for a hike on Lugnaquilla mountain on Saturday. But when Jean Francois Bonnet and Ciara Nolan were climbing through the Wicklow Mountains, they came upon a creature nearly frozen to death. The duo are doctors who have been on the frontline of fighting the coronavirus and decided to take a hike on their day off this weekend.
As they reached the summit of the mountain, they made a surprising discovery. Bonnet tells Irish radio station EAST COAST FM:
“We were almost at the top when my girlfriend Ciara screamed ‘there is a dog! There is a dog!’ That poor thing was curled up against the rock. She was petrified, freezing cold. She didn’t have enough energy to bark or stand.”
The dog was so weak and cold that it couldn’t walk and could barely bark.
“We tried to get her to walk, she couldn’t stand. So we covered her in our spare clothes, we gave her some food.
“Ciara put her on my back and we started going down the mountain, but it was very icy and rocky, so we fell a few times. Ciara came up with a good idea – she strapped her to my backpack. She used her scarf to make a little nest for her.”
The trek back down the mountain was about 6 miles, with Bonnet carrying the dog on his back the entire way. Once they reached the bottom they took the pup home where they fed her and warmed her up. Then they contacted the nearby Ash Animal Rescue which managed to track down the dog’s owners. She turned out to be 8-year-old Neesha and belonged to the Goetelen family.
The family had been hiking the mountain two weeks prior when Neesha and their other dog–a German Shepherd named Harley– took took off in chase of a deer. Harley was found the following day, but the family did not see any sign of Neesha. The family had accepted that their beloved pet was lost forever, and so it came as a complete shock when they got the call saying Neesha had been found alive and well. It is still unclear how the dog survived on the mountain for two weeks.
“We were so, so relieved and happy,” she said. “We have no words to thank them both for what they did to bring her back home. They are just absolutely amazing and unbelievable. We just can’t thank them enough.”
The doctors made a video of the rescue and posted it to TikTok, which has been viewed 1.7 million times, and can be viewed below:
@jeanfrancoiswillem #dog #lostdog #rescue #mountain #pet #ireland #lost #dublin @ciaranolan05
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.