Stray Dog That Got Stabbed 5 Times While Saving Woman From Knife Attack Is Adopted

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From the archives: This story was last updated in May 2019.

A nameless pit bull that had grown accustomed to roaming the streets of Baldwin, Georgia, found purpose in the most unexpected of ways. Sadly, it was almost at the expense of his own life.

The pit bull already bore the telltale signs of a troubled life living rough; he was covered in scars and his back leg was crooked, likely the result of a road traffic accident that was never treated. Stray animals don’t have the luxury of loving owners who will send them for veterinary treatment, after all. But in July of 2016, the nameless dog became a hero in both name and deed.

The dog was roaming his usual route around Baldwin when he came upon a vicious fight between a man and a woman; the dog hung back, but it wasn’t long before his protective instincts were piqued. As the man pulled a knife, the pit bull lunged between the attacker and his target, his spontaneous bravery sparing the woman from potentially fatal injuries. However, the dog himself was stabbed five times before the knife wielder drew back. “Most pit bulls are really protective,” Carla Welch of Fighting for the Bullys pit bull rescue told Inside Edition. “They can sense danger.”

The brave dog selflessly risked his life for a stranger, but his own journey had only just began.

Sergeant Timothy Clay and Officer Daniel Seeley arrived on the scene to find the poor dog bleeding heavily. “I don’t think we could have let that dog suffer and die,” Officer Clay told WATE. “We felt like we needed to get that dog some help after what it had been through.” It was late at night, but the diligent officers managed to find a vet clinic that agreed to treat the injured pup. As soon as the police brought him in, the dog collapsed on the operating table. Nobody thought he would make it.

“His gums were white already,” Welch regaled, “because he had lost so much blood.” But just days later, after surviving surgery radically against the odds, the dog was merrily winging his way to Welch’s rescue center over 190 miles away in Knoxville, Tennessee. He took his life, his health, and a miraculous recovery story with him, but that wasn’t all; he also had a new name: Hero.

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Sergeant Clay was particularly touched by the dog’s brave intervention and miraculous recovery. “Deputy Seeley and myself are extremely grateful to all of the people involved with helping save Hero’s life,” he said. “Unfortunately, we see a lot of bad things, but it’s incidents like this that make you feel great about our job.”

“He is amazing,” Welch shared, after bonding quickly with the handsome dog, which took up temporary residence in her shelter. “The poor thing has lived a hellish life,” she lamented, adding that the dog’s life had surely, from that moment on, changed forever. And she was right. Hero’s story got out, and according to The Daily Mail, he was adopted by Sara and David Simpson, of Tennessee, in September of 2016. The couple even had two loving pups at home already for Hero to play with. “We are really blessed to be taking this baby and making him family,” Sara shared on Facebook. “Adjustments are going well.”

“Don’t buy from breeders or shops,” Hero’s new adoptive family added, imploring the public to think of dogs like Hero who need care more than most. “So, so, so many animals out there need loving homes,” they said. And some of them, just like Hero, have well and truly earned their places in our hearts.