(CN, HK) Puppies help to save trapped grandmother

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

Puppies help to save trapped grandmother

 

Kristine Kwok

Updated on May 22, 2008

 

Wang Youqiong did not know the two puppies. But the two canine strangers

have become her best friends since they helped save the devout Buddhist

who survived 196 hours stuck between two giant rocks.

 

A resident of Chengdu , Ms Wang was planning to stay in a Buddhist

temple in the city of Pengzhou throughout May. But her month-long

retreat was interrupted when the massive earthquake struck the

mountainous region on May 12.

 

The grandmother fell to the ground and was then swept away by an ensuing

mudslide. When it was all over she was stuck between two rocks, the

Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported.

 

Villagers in the surrounding neighbourhood had abandoned the area, so

her cries for help went unheeded, then the puppies came along. In the

following eight days, the dogs were her only companions. They did not

leave her until rescuers followed their barks and found her on Tuesday.

 

" Over the past eight days, these two dogs kept barking, and licked Wang

Youqiong's face and mouth, " the report said.

 

Ms Wang reportedly survived by drinking rainwater and by the moisture

from the dogs' licks.

 

She was conscious when pulled out and was able to give rescuers her

family's contact details.

 

The family was overwhelmed upon receiving the rescuers' call.

 

" I have been waiting for my mother's call. I couldn't believe a miracle

would happen, " her son Zeng Linghua said.

 

Ms Wang's amazing rescue came along with another as rescuers persisted

in their efforts despite ever-diminishing hopes for the survival of

those still missing.

 

Yesterday morning, a worker at a hydropower plant in Shifang was saved

after being trapped in a tunnel construction site for nine days.

 

Xinhua reported that Cui Changhui, 35, suffered several bone fractures

but the injuries were not life-threatening.