The saying “dogs are man’s best friend” applies just as much to women, if Jennie Warr’s daring rescue by her faithful friend Georgie is anything to go by. Jennie hates to think what would have happened if her loyal border terrier hadn’t been there after a fall which left her stranded on a hillside with a severely fractured leg.
Enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine, Jennie (43) took to the hills behind her Nelson home with her four-legged friend. But after stepping into a hole on the steep slope’s disused dirt path, she fell to the ground and heard a sickening crunch as she tumbled backwards.
“I knew I’d broken something because my leg was flopping in all directions and the pain was incredible,” says Jennie, who’s seen many terrible fractures in her 18-year career as a radiographer. “I was hundreds of metres off the main track. There was nobody else around and it was impossible to move.”
Jennie adores her wee border terrier and says she is ‘worth her weight in gold’
Stuck and in agony, Jennie had left her cellphone at home so began crying out for help. After half an hour and with darkness setting in, she saw the brightly coloured T-shirts of two runners in the distance. She called out desperately. It was then, sensing her panic, that Georgie suddenly joined in, barking frantically by her side.
Nearby resident Janelle McBrearty was walking higher up and heard cries. She initially dismissed them as children playing, but after hearing the dog barking, she wondered if someone was in trouble. Janelle stopped the runners and between them – 45 minutes after Jennie’s fall – they followed the barks to where she lay. One of the men, Bill Revell, went for help while Janelle and the other runner, Derek Shaw, stayed by her side. Three-year-old Georgie settled quietly, placated that help had arrived.
After dialling 111, Bill returned to Jennie, together with some friends who’d gathered blankets and their neighbour, emergency department doctor Mark Reeves. The resourceful group stabilised the leg with a makeshift splint made from a plastic doggie-doo bag, Jennie’s belt and two pieces of timber found nearby.
“I knew from my work if we could support it somehow to avoid movement and further trauma it would help,” she says. With everyone feeling the chill of the night, it was a huge relief to hear the rescue helicopter approaching.
Georgie came into Jennie’s life as a 10-week-old puppy
Finally, more than two hours after her fall, Jennie was winched off the hill. Despite her fear of heights and the terrible pain from her leg, she says the first thought in her mind was the safety of her little dog. “I called down to check who’d got Georgie and they reassured me she was in good hands.
“I feel so lucky these lovely people took the trouble to investigate. They were all amazing, as were the emergency services. “It’s so important that people take notice if they have an inkling somebody’s in distress.”
As for Georgie, “She’s a funny wee thing,” Jennie adds. “She’s totally dedicated to me. She’s worth her weight in gold.” Jennie had surgery to fix the spiral fracture in her tibia with metal plates and eight pins. She faces up to 10 weeks on crutches and a further six weeks wearing a moon boot before she will walk with her companion again. But next time she’ll take her cellphone too.
Fiona Terry
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