Pet dog saves woman, 88

Jul 28 2004

By Staff Reporter, Birmingham Post

An 88-year-old woman who spent almost 30 hours on a windswept hillside after falling and breaking her leg was kept alive by the heat of her pet dog, paramedics said last night. Ruth Jenkins was finally rescued at about 1pm yesterday from Shropshire's Long Mynd when the barking of her faithful Irish wolfhound, Patsy, alerted a passer-by. Air ambulance paramedic Marc Moulton said the pensioner, who is in a poorly condition at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, owed her survival to the fact that Patsy stayed by her side after the accident. He said: "I think the dog kept her alive by cuddling next to her - the dog was almost as big as her and it was still cuddled round her when we found her. Mrs Jenkins, who lives in the Church Stretton area, suffered a double fracture of her right leg and cuts.