By hannover-web.com In a remarkable tale of survival, Pamela Helmstadter, 72, credits her one-year-old Labrador, Lucy, with saving her life after a tragic series of events unfolded in the woods of Maine. Pamela and her husband John Helmstadter, 82, had ventured out for a routine walk on Sunday, October 13, but their outing turned into a harrowing ordeal when they became lost for four frigid nights.
Authorities began their search for the couple on Wednesday after a concerned neighbor reported that a package left on the Helmstadters’ porch had not been picked up, and there was no sign of the couple or their beloved black lab. By Thursday, news broke that the couple had been found, albeit under dire circumstances.
John Helmstadter was discovered deceased, but Pamela was alive, albeit severely hypothermic with a dangerously low body temperature of 90.7°F (32.6°C). In a poignant gesture, Lucy was found lying protectively on Pamela’s chest when rescuers arrived. “It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night, as well, to help keep her warm,” commented Sgt. Josh Beal of the Maine Warden Service.
Pamela shared her harrowing experience, revealing that after John fell and was unable to get up, she attempted to find help but became disoriented in the dense woods. Without cellphones, their situation grew desperate as they faced rain and plunging nighttime temperatures that dipped as low as 26°F (-3.3°C). “I gave up hope of being found,” Pamela recounted, noting the moment she heard a warden airplane circling overhead.
While waiting for rescue, she resorted to eating peat moss to survive and battled feelings of “sadness and grief” in the wake of her husband’s passing. Reflecting on their life together, she said, “He was loving. We were married for 31 years, and we had a good life together.”
As first responders transported Pamela to the hospital for treatment, they credited Lucy’s instinctual protective behavior as a crucial factor in keeping her alive throughout the ordeal.
