How many reasons do you need to love dogs? If you have a dog in your life or if you have ever shared your life with a dog at any time in the past, you already realize that they certainly have a lot to offer. They give us unconditional love and it doesn’t matter what kind of day we have or how we may feel, they have a way of coming up to us and making us feel better. Even when we are feeling good, they can bring out the best of us!
Sometimes we hear about a dog that does something incredible and we realize that our dog would’ve done the same for us. That is the case with this German Shepherd who was a stray, living in the woods of Georgia back in 2007. His name was Hero and he was wandering through the woods one day when a car crashed nearby. A woman by the name of Shannon Lorio was involved in the crash.
Lorio was out driving after a fight with her husband to clear her head. She was on a road with a lot of curves on it and lost control on one of the turns. As the car fishtailed, she was thrown from the driver seat and through the back windshield. She blacked out for a moment but when she woke up, she was on the ground and her lower half was still in the car.
At first, she was concerned that nobody would find her but that is when she saw a large, black shape running in her direction.
“I don’t know when I came to, but when I did come to, I felt his huge presence. I could feel his breath. The dog…I don’t know how he came across me, but I thank God that he did,” Lorio said.
Lorio lost consciousness and when she woke up, she found that the dog had already moved her from the wrecked vehicle. Grabbing her by the hood of the jacket, he was pulling her away from the car.
All in all, Hero had dragged her over 100 feet to the road’s edge. The dog would not give up and his strength was inspirational. She wrapped her arms around him and stood up slowly.
Hero brought her to the road’s edge just in time. A car was driving past and she was able to flag it down. The driver called 911 and her husband and then she passed out again.
When she woke up, she was in the hospital and learned that surgery would not be necessary. She was able to go home to recover but she never forgot the German Shepherd that saved her life.
“This dog, he did everything. He’s an amazing animal, he really is,” Lorio said.
After Hero had saved her life, he was taken to the Humane Society. The story of his bravery and what he had done spread throughout the community and Heidy Drawdy, a search and rescue trainer adopted him.
Lorio was happy to learn that Hero is now a certified search and rescue dog. Not only did he save her life but he continues to save the lives of many others.
“I told him you’ll always be my hero,” she said. “That’s what everybody started to call him. And that’s how he got his name.”
You can learn more about Hero in this video:
