An act of heroism on the Sunshine Coast is being recognized after a dog fell off a cliff into a blackberry bush.
Rachel Manley is a resident of Davis Bay, and says Lulu went missing Saturday night and thanks to the efforts of the community they were able to find her Wednesday night, but she was in rough shape.
Manley says it’s heartwarming, and tear-jerking, to see how something like this can unite the community so tight.
“Everyone searched for days, I couldn’t believe the support and how the community rallied,” she says. “Without them we couldn’t have found her.
“She would’ve died, and we never would’ve got closure”
Manley says it was credit to the Halfmoon Bay fire department, her son [Cyrus] and a friend they were able to effect rescue and make sure Lulu was recovered after being stranded on her own.
“I honestly don’t know how he [Cyrus] got in there,” she says. “You couldn’t see them; they were totally deep within the blackberry bush.
“I couldn’t call 911 because she [Lulu] was stuck in a bush, but I could because Cyrus was, so I called them, and they came right out.”
Manley says after the rescue they managed to get Lulu to a vet because of the condition she was in where she fought off hypothermia among other medical concerns.
“She fought so hard, she had no temperature when they got her and was severely dehydrated,” she says. “They thought she was going to make it; she was stable but then Lulu went into cardiac arrest and there was nothing they could do.”
The life and memory of Lulu will never be forgotten by her family and Manley adds it was a matter of minutes before she was back up at the vet for one final good-bye.
“I was home for 20 minutes before I got a call back telling me to come back,” she says. “My son, husband and I went down.
“She was loved, we were all crying including the whole community. This is why I will never move away; I have never felt so loved by so many people.”
To honour Lulu’s memory, Manley says the family had decided to bury her and erect a tree to honour her life and thank those who worked tirelessly to find and rescue the dog.
