An elderly man died, and his wife and dog were rescued days later after the three went hiking in Maine, and unfortunately lost track of their whereabouts last week.
According to the NY Post, Pamela Helmstadter is 72 years old. She miraculously survived four nights in the Maine woodlands with her dog, after her husband perished. John Helmstadter was 82 years old, and his deceased body was found roughly 200 yards from his wife.
The conditions that Pamela survived for four nights were plenty harsh. Temperatures got as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit overnight, and rain fell through several evenings. As a result, the elderly woman was suffering from severe hypothermia when she was finally found by the K9 team.
Notably, Pamela's black lab, named Lucy, was very protective of the woman upon the arrival of the K9 team. Apparently, the dog laid across the chest of the woman, in a defensive manner. Such was reported by Maine Warden Service Sgt. Josh Beal. Beal continued to say that the dog had laid upon Pamela in a similar fashion overnight. Such an act had kept the woman warm enough through the night to survive the long nights.
Dog Keeps Woman Warm Enough To Survive Cold Nights After Hiking Mishap
John's tragic death started after he fell while on the hike. The 82-year-old was unable to get back to his feet, and Pamela eventually took off to find help for her husband. Unfortunately, Pamela had left her cell phone at home, so her search for help required only her manual navigation skills. In the Maine woodlands, Pamela was unable to make her way to any help, and eventually circled back near John, where she was found days later.
Authorities did not know when exactly John would have passed, but they were confident had it not been for the dog's laying on Pamela, she would have endured a similar fate.
At the time of Pamela's rescue, her body temperature was only 90 degrees Fahrenheit.. She was promptly rushed to hospital to receive treatment. Reportedly, Pamela had given up on being found alive, until she heard rescue helicopters fly overhead.
