Chloe Adams only had a few minutes to figure out how to save her childhood dog, Sandy, and herself from rising flood waters. To make it to safety, they’d have to swim from their house to a neighbor’s rooftop.
But the water was cold with a light current, and her now-senior dog couldn’t swim.
“I was more worried [about] losing her in the water than myself,” Adams told The Dodo. “I had to find something that could safely float her across the waters.”
With flood waters quickly rising, Adams tried to use Sandy’s bed as a floatation device, but it sank. She then grabbed a plastic container big enough for Sandy to fit in, but that began sinking, too.
As time ran out, she found a couch cushion and shoved it underneath the container to keep Sandy afloat while she swam through the floods to the nearest rooftop where she could pull herself and Sandy out of the water.
You can see her dad’s post about her rescue here:
Adams and Sandy spent the next five hours stuck on the rooftop — in the cold rain and still-rising floods — waiting to be rescued.
“I held Sandy in my lap the entire time and put the plastic container over her to keep the rain off of her,” Adams said.
Eventually, Adams’ uncle rescued the two survivors with his kayak. They’re now safe at Adams’ grandmother’s house while recovering from the traumatic experience. But they are so happy to be together.
“We comfort each other when going through something hard,” Adams said. “I [am] there to hold her and tell her it’s OK, and she lays her head in my lap knowing I’m in pain.”