Last Tuesday, a group was hiking down the treacherous trials at Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. Lexie Daniels and her friends encountered a man with his dog on the trails.
The temperatures were rising to 90 degrees and above and the dog was struggling. Lexie and her friends donated water but no amount seemed to be helping the poor dog.
The man was too tired to carry the dog himself, so the loving owner called the park rangers as soon as he possibly could.
Here's a nice little positive news story to balance out the rest of the news today. ❤️ https://t.co/eoUo3F17aJ
— Michelle Ilia Reed (@MichelleIlia) June 28, 2020
Supervisory Park Ranger Kris Salapek soon found them on the trail and saw the situation. He took the dog onto his own shoulders and carried him down the mountain by himself.
They reached a stream and Kris laid the dog in the water and poured water all over him.
Salapek then picked the dog back up and carried him the rest of the way down the mountain.
Daniels said the dog must’ve been on his shoulders for at least an hour as it was a long way down.
The owner hiked ahead to have the car ready to take the poor dog to the vet. By the time he got down there, the dog was perking up his head a bit and was already looking better.
When Lexie got home, she posted the good deed on Facebook and it went viral. She wrote:
“This is a HERO. We are so lucky to have rangers like this (who) put even animals before themselves. This ranger deserves insane recognition and a standing ovation for his bravery, selflessness, and strength.”
It got well over 35,000 shares on Facebook, and it has been shared on Twitter as well.
Lexie then updated her post saying that they had been in touch with the owner of the dog and the patient is doing fine. Daniels wrote:
“Thanks to this ranger and other officers like him, we can feel a little safer for our loved ones (even our pups)”
Featured image: Lexie Daniels submitted.
