These animals saved people (10 photos)

People and animals have coexisted together for a very long time and have learned not only to get along with each other, but also to benefit from their friendship. There are often cases when wild animals come out to people to ask for help, or people find themselves in situations where they can survive only with the help of animals.





We will not talk about the cats and dogs we are used to (although about them too!), but about those who, it would seem, in ordinary life, stay away from people and rarely enter into direct communication with them. This shows how little the animal world has yet been studied and what it is capable of.

Cher Ami the dove saved more than a hundred lives



In French, “cher ami” translates to “dear friend.” After training by British pigeon breeders, she was assigned to the American Army Signal Corps in France.

On October 3, 1918, 500 men led by Major Charles Whiteleesey found themselves stranded behind enemy lines when the Germans surrounded them, preventing them from reaching a supply line. American soldiers were defending on a hill when heavy artillery fire began on them from the allies, who did not know that they were on the hill. Communication with the headquarters was impossible; the battalion, without food and ammunition, lost more than half of its people in two days - there were just over 190 soldiers left.

The major began sending carrier pigeons with messages. The first one said: “There are many wounded. We cannot evacuate.” But the pigeon was shot down by the Germans.

The second one, with the note “Soldiers are suffering. Can you send us support?”, was also shot down.





Stuffed hero bird

The last hope of the exhausted soldiers was Cher Ami: “We are located along the road, height 276.4. Our artillery is striking directly at us. For the sake of God, stop firing.” The Germans started shooting at the dove and were able to shoot it down too. But the brave little girl did not give up, although one of her legs was shot off, her eye was knocked out and she was wounded in the chest. Cher Ami was able to take to the air, fly as much as 40 kilometers and finally deliver the message.

All surviving soldiers were saved. The doctors were able to save Cher Ami, and instead of a paw she was fitted with a small wooden prosthesis. Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and the American Gold Medal. She died in 1919 and her effigy is now kept in the Smithsonian Museum.

Bobby Humphreys and his tiny rescuers



Bobby was a strong and large man, a professional bodybuilder. He had a girlfriend who one day, on New Year’s Eve, broke off relations with him and left. This broke Humphreys, who was very upset about the breakup with his beloved, he fell into severe depression and could lie all day long and stare at one point, without the strength to even just get up. The situation was aggravated by a hand injury, due to which he could not even go to his favorite workout. Bobby lost everything he loved, began to drink heavily and seriously thought about suicide.

One day, a friend came to him, trying to support Bobby during this difficult period, and asked him to look after her Chihuahua puppy while he was moving to another apartment. Humphries had previously only kept large Rottweilers and did not take such a small thing as a sneeze seriously. But the little girl named Lady, who until that moment had been wary of people, especially men, fell in love with her new friend with all her soul. For four months they lived in perfect harmony and Bobby himself admitted that it was the Lady who saved him from death. He took a liking to her and was saddened that after a couple of months the baby had to be returned to her owner.



He got himself his Lady, and then began to study how people treat small dogs and realized that there were a lot of abandoned Chihuahuas in shelters. Bobby Humphries rescued more than a hundred dogs and his home became the Big Guy, Little World Sanctuary. He has a large house with an equally large local area, where all his rescued charges live their happy lives.

Once upon a time, one small loving heart saved him, and now he responds in kind to dozens of the same little hearts.

Elephant Ning Nong



In 2004, one of the worst tsunamis in the Indian Ocean occurred. The disaster had a colossal impact on regions in a number of countries and killed thousandsand lives in a terribly short period of time. And among all this chaos there was a place for a miracle.

The four-year-old elephant lived in Phuket and already knew eight-year-old Amber, who fell in love with the animal while she and her parents were on vacation. They saw each other regularly and the girl always happily ran to greet Ning Nong. Vacationers on the beach at first did not understand why such a high tide began, but after a few minutes it became clear that a huge wave was rushing straight to the beach. The elephant managed to pick up the girl and began to rise higher and higher with her, in search of a safe place, while her parents ran behind, lagging behind, in search of shelter. Ning Nong became something of a protective wall for Amber and her mother said that her daughter would hardly have survived the consequences of the tsunami if they had stayed on the beach.



Amber and Ning Nong's parents were separated and when the mother, in a panic, tried to find out if anyone had seen the elephant with the little girl, she was told that they had seen it dead. But it was a mistake and soon Ning Nong with Amber on his back went out to the people and handed the girl over to her parents.

Isn't he a hero?

Dolphins and lifeguard



Although the horror stories of shark attacks have been somewhat exaggerated (thanks in large part to the movie Jaws), they remain very dangerous animals.

In 2004, New Zealand lifeguard Rob House was coaching a team of teenagers in the water, including his daughter. Suddenly, a small school of dolphins surrounded the group and began to swim restlessly around them, encircling them and not allowing them to leave. Rob decided to dive to see what was going on and saw an impressive white shark scurrying nearby. House decided not to tell his charges this fact, so as not to start panic, which is deadly on the water, and began to slowly lead the group to the shore. The dolphins still stayed nearby, and sharks are usually afraid of their schools, so the predator swam away without showing itself in any way. The dolphins did not swim far from Rob for another half hour, so that the shark was guaranteed not to return to its potential dinner.

Sea lion



Kevin

19-year-old Kevin Hines suffered from epilepsy and bipolar disorder. Both of these conditions are extremely debilitating and the quality of life suffers greatly. In September 2006, Kevin decided to end his torment and commit suicide, choosing the famous Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco) for this purpose. It is also called the "Suicide Bridge".



The number of survivors of the fall from this bridge can be counted on one hand, and Hines was included in this unique statistic. But the impact on the water was so strong that due to the pain he could not only move, but even just stay on the surface of the water. In general, he had great prospects for finishing what he started, if not for the sea lion that appeared nearby. He began to push Kevin and keep him from going under until the Coast Guard boat showed up. The would-be suicide was pulled out of the water. Perhaps now he has learned to live with his illnesses and appreciate life.