A man in western Tennessee was rescued thanks to the help of his dog. The dog’s bark alerted rescuers to the missing man who was unable to cry for help himself.
Cary Ferguson left to walk his dog Jinxie around 10 a.m. on Friday and didn’t return his friends became worried. A search team went out to look for Ferguson and Jinxie, but the terrain and heat made it difficult.
“The guys were out looking in some of the most rural parts of the county,” said Tipton County Sheriff Pancho Chumley. “This is where the snakes would be and anything else.”
Another difficulty facing Ferguson was that his is a cancer patient who has a tracheotomy which made it impossible for him to yell for help. Luckily, Jinxie stayed by his side the entire sign and barked to alert rescuers to where they were.
No one is sure how, but Ferguson became trapped in a dry creek bed. Investigators say that Ferguson also suffers from a mental illness that can cause hallucinations which most likely caused him to wander off and got him caught in the muddy creek bed. Without Jinxie there it is very likely that Ferguson would not have been found. Nearly eight hours had passed before rescuers found the two.
“I thought we saw the top of his head, “said rescuer Ruben Miller. “Then the dog went to barking, that’s how we found him. Thank God for dogs.”
Paramedics took Ferguson to a nearby hospital to be treated for dehydration. Jinxie was released to Ferguson’s family and the two will be reunited once Ferguson is released from the hospital.
