Deep paw-ter
Jane Warner, 50, from Swansea needed help after her pooch got into a spot of bother!
There was a sound of paws scuttling across the floor with the brush of a fluffy tail following just behind. ‘Well, she’s got that the wrong way round,’ I giggled as my female Jack Russell, Titch, tried to hump my friend Michele’s male Shih Tzu, Charlie.
‘Doesn’t she just?’ Michele, 52, replied. As Michele was my best friend, we always joked that our pooches were soulmates and might as well be hubby and wife.
When Michele’s life turned upside down after finding out she had terminal cancer, we knew there was only one place for Charlie to be.
‘Look after them for me?’ she asked nervously.
‘Of course,’ I answered. After Michele passed in July 2019, aged just 54, Charlie moved in with us and he fit right in.
On the second anniversary of Michele’s death, I knew I had to treat my fur babies, so I decided to plan a day out to Penllergare Valley Woods.
Drama Queen Titch, six, wouldn’t go near the water, but seven year old Charlie leapt straight in.
I stood watching by the water’s edge, as he chased the ducks around the lake.
A group of people, a lady and two teenagers, were enjoying their lunch on a bench nearby.
‘He’s having fun,’ the lady commented in a Scottish accent, pointing at Charlie.
But Charlie began swimming around in circles.
‘Come back,’ I shouted.
Charlie was attempting to get out of the water but it seemed like he was stuck, he was getting nowhere.
The people on the bench also began to call for Charlie, but he was still stuck.
I began to worry. What was I supposed to do?
I was hopeless at swimming! Then all of a sudden I saw the teenage boy ripping off his trainers and he jumped straight into the water!
Splashing around he reached Charlie grabbing hold of him as quickly as possible.
Yet the water was swallowing them alive!
My heart dropped as they fought to keep their heads above the water.
Finally he brought an unharmed Charlie to safety.
Members of the public had stopped to help, bundling Charlie straight into blankets they were carrying.
The teen vomited.
‘It was so deep and cold,’ he muttered.
Everything happened so quickly, the boy and his family took off before I was able to catch their details.
I knew I had to track my pup saviour down, so I opened my phone and logged onto Facebook.
The post was shared thousands of times and someone had tagged Conor Telfor, who was just 17.
He was from Dundee and was visiting Wales with his girlfriend, Grace, and her mum, Shelagh.
We met up and he was so humble. ‘Anyone would have done it,’ he smiled, declaring he couldn’t actually swim.
Connor, Grace and Shelagh are all friends for life.
I’ve sent him a huge box of thank you treats just to show how grateful I am.
But, I need to thank someone else - Michele.
I know she was up there watching over us all on that day.
She was also Charlie’s hero.
I really began to worry