David Howarth, 71, collapsed on Sandbanks beach in Poole, Dorset, after a swim, with no one around except his five-year-old black Labrador, Beau. Recognising something was wrong, Beau ran along the beach barking, catching the attention of Claire Dashwood, 65, who was walking nearby with her partner.
Recalling the incident, which occurred exactly one year ago, Howarth said:
“I feel I owe Beau my life. I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I feel extremely high-spirited, upbeat, optimistic and incredibly thankful for Beau and the people who went out of their way to save me. I call them my angels. Every day I feel like the bubble will burst but it’s a year on and it hasn’t. I’m just so glad to be alive, to be here, to have another chance.”
Dashwood, a healthcare assistant from Bournemouth, initially thought Beau was playing, but quickly realised something was wrong when she saw Howarth lying on his back.
“He was dead, purple and freezing cold. I checked his pulse and his airway but there was nothing,” she said.
Dashwood immediately called emergency services, and two doctors from Bournemouth Hospital who were also on the beach began CPR until paramedics arrived.
“I was aware of lots of people around us saying, ‘he’s dead, he’s gone’, but I just blocked it all out and kept going. The dog could have growled at me or attacked me but he kept on licking me. He knew I was helping David,” Dashwood added.
Howarth was taken to hospital, made a full recovery, and doctors implanted a defibrillator near his heart. Today, Dashwood carries a dog toy when visiting the beach, just in case she meets Howarth and Beau again.
“Beau is my little hero. Every time I see him, he licks my face and I never let a dog lick my face,” she said.
Heroic dogs aren’t unique to Sandbanks. In Wales, a golden retriever named Maple saved her owner, Samantha Forrster, 29, who went into hypoglycaemic shock at her Ebbw Vale home while her partner, Joshua Vaughan, 30, was at work.
Neighbours were alerted by Maple’s barking and rushed in to assist. Forrster recalled:
“I just remember the next-door neighbours coming in. I remember them giving me sugar and telling me that Maple had been barking.”
Vaughan explained that Maple may have learned this life-saving behaviour during playtime.
“I used to play with Maple and flop over, and she’d lick and bark and wake me up, just playing, but I didn’t realise that would end up working. I know that golden retrievers like providing care, but she saved Sam.”
These stories highlight the extraordinary instincts of dogs, whose loyalty and awareness can make the difference between life and death.
