Saint Max

• Brienna Mortimer, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2007

Dogs are wonderful animals that do many amazing things for us. Some are guide dogs, some police dogs, some herding dogs, and some are loyal household pets. But some dogs are very special and work as rescue dogs, trained to save people and animals alike from fires, floods or cyclones. The story that I am about to tell you is about one such dog, a Saint Bernard by the name of Max.

Max lived in the snowy regions of Switzerland, and was a rescue dog. He located people buried underneath snow and rocks and often saved their lives. In this story he was about 4 years old, and had been working as a rescue dog for two years. This particular morning, 30 years ago today, Max and his owner were in their hut when a report came over the radio that an avalanche had caused havoc in a small town to the north, burying about a dozen people. Naturally, the pair set off at once in a helicopter to do their bit in rescuing the trapped. When they arrived they joined the rescue crews already working, and set about looking for injured people under the hard-packed snow.

After a long day and night, the rescue crews were fairly confident that they had rescued everyone. They decided to take a well-earned rest. But as they headed for the hut in which they were to stay for the night, Max started moving around restlessly and whining. Jack put it down to tiredness, and tried to calm Max. But he continued to move around, appearing quite agitated.

When they finally reached the hut, Jack bedded Max down and headed off to bed himself. What he didn’t know was that at about 11:00pm, Max crept out of the door and ran back to the avalanche site they had been working at earlier that day, dodging patrols and helicopters. His sense of direction was so good that he was there in little more than four minutes. He sniffed around, every so often stopping and beginning to dig furiously into the soft, scuffed snow. He worked his way around the whole area, digging until his paws were red and bloody. Finally he stopped; tail and ears poised, and seemed to smile. He had found what he was looking for! He dug up a tiny figure from under a pile of rubble that had been overlooked, and carried the child the 5 kilometers back to their hut. He woke Jack, who proceeded to call the authorities and warm the child up with a hot chocolate and blankets.

This story was posted on the front page of every newspaper in the country, being called an unbelievable miracle. Over one hundred people in the world today owe their lives to Max and thousands to dogs in general. I, too, am incredibly thankful; if it weren’t for Max I would not be here. I would have died under a pile of rubble 30 years ago.

Brienna Mortimer