When a pup ran away after an accident, Mary made it her mission to find him!

Trucker Lucas Cardona took his pup on all of his runs. But after an accident, Finn dashed, frightened, into the woods. Would they ever be reunited? They would if Mary Esserman had anything to say about it!

Long-haul trucker Lucas Cardona simply didn’t see it coming. One minute, the ex-marine and former police officer was pushing his rig up a curved Indiana highway on-ramp; the next, the coiled steel he was carrying had shifted, sending his truck rolling onto its side.

Luckily, there were no other vehicles around, and Lucas only had a few bruises.

But . . . “Finn!” he called, scrambling to check on his trusty travel companion. he okay!” tian/lab/st. “Thank found Lucas his goodness beloved breathed Bernard Dalma- you’re when mix curled scared but up unharmed. on some pillows,

But just then, highway rescue workers smashed the windshield and a terrified Finn leapt out, squeezed under a guardrail and ran into the woods! “Come back!” Lucas called. As paramedic Mary Esserman tried to check Lucas for injuries, she noticed animal fur on his jacket.

“Dog or cat?” she asked, and Lucas nearly broke down.

“My dog, Finn—he ran off! I need to find him!”

Mary suggested Lucas go to the emergency room to be checked, but he refused.

An animal-lover—she has “furbaby” dogs of her own and works part-time at the local animal hospital—mary knew she’d feel the same.

dog” when So she post her made on shift Facebook, a ended, “missing and she trees. joined and night But Lucas, was they falling. scouring had no luck, the

woods, Meanwhile, Finn wandered, in the cold, fright- dark ened and lonely. Where are you, Dad? he wondered.

The next day, Mary joined Lucas again to

search as the local fire

chief scoured the area with a drone. But there was no sign of Finn— and Lucas had to return to Michigan, his home base. “There are reports to file. But how can I go home without him? He’s my baby!” Lucas choked. “Don’t worry. I won’t stop looking,” Mary vowed. The next day— armed with a couple of Lucas’ shirts and Finn’s favorite food, hot dogs—mary set out into the woods again. It was later that evening when she received a Facebook message: I think I saw the dog you’re looking for. That night wasn’t successful. But the next day, Mary hurried to the place where Finn had been spotted. Is that . . . hot dogs? the hungry pup wondered, sniffing the air. And then he caught a whiff of another scent even more wonderful.

That smells like my dad! Finn realized as he sniffed the shirt Mary had hung on a low branch.

Still, Finn wouldn’t come to Mary. So, calling Lucas, Mary placed her cellphone on the ground.

“Finn! Finn!” Lucas called through the speaker— and, his ears perked, Finn rushed over and licked the phone!

And when Mary connected his leash to his collar, the pup licked her face as if to say: I want to go home. Will you take me home? Mary took Finn to the vet— who pronounced him healthy—then home with her until Lucas could make the two-hour drive back. “I missed you like crazy!” Lucas cried, hugging his furry buddy as Finn danced around him.

“I can’t thank you enough. You are truly our hero!” he told Mary. But Mary was happy to help. “Dogs and their people are just meant to be together,” she smiles. “So seeing Lucas and Finn together again . . . that’s all the thanks I need!”

— Bill Holton

How can I go home without him? Finn is my baby! “Dogs do speak but only to those who know how to listen.” Orhan Pamuk