Real Life Lassies
Is anybody else thinking “Lassie” when they read this? I bet Dogster Minstrel here is proud as punch of her fellow Collies!
This story of dog saves man comes from the Evening Times.
Dogs save shepherd who collapsed in hills
A SHEPHERD was saved by his two sheepdogs after he collapsed on a hill while checking his flock. The dogs helped rescue teams locate the man, who has heart problems, after he spent the night on a hill.
James Campbell, 59, of Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway was reported missing overnight and a search, involving a Royal Navy rescue helicopter.
Police co-ordinated the search, which also involved Galloway Mountain Rescue Ream.
Mr Campbell’s wife alerted the police after the shepherd, who had previously a heart attack on the hills, failed to return home last night.
He had left his farm at Balmaclellan, near Castle Douglas on the Solway Firth, with his two collie dogs yesterday.
A team of 12 local volunteers were also involved in the search, which was called off today when the helicopter crew spotted one of the dogs running around near the spot where the man had collapsed.
The working dogs had remained with the shepherd after he collapsed and one sheepdog lying beside him had helped keep the stricken man warm during the night.
Suffering from the effects of cold, Mr Campbell was winched out by helicopter and flown to hospital in Ayr.
A police spokeswoman said: “The call came in to us yesterday at 9.54pm from the man’s wife, saying he had failed to return home.
“She said it wasn’t usual for him to be late back but said he had had a heart attack around 10 years ago. “Early this morning we heard he had been found at 8am.”
A spokesman for the RAF said: “We received the call about 3.30am and because of the weather and the dark decided to postpone the search until this morning. “The crew of the helicopter, which took off from Prestwick, spotted the man after one of the two dogs was seen running around in circles, the other was lying next to him keeping him warm. “I’m sure the crew would have said that it was the dogs that contributed to him being found.”
