A 10-year-old girl from Russia was able to endure a nighttime snowstorm for 18 hours. The only reason she made it out alive was because of a stray dog. The girl held tight to the comfort of the stray dog after going missing from school in Uglegorsk, Russia, and was trapped in the bitter cold snowstorm until a group of authorities and volunteers would locate her, according to the Russian newspapers The Siberian Times.
According to local accounts, the youngster went missing around 1 p.m. on January 13 before her mother called the police. The girl was not given a name by the authorities. As a result of the blizzard’s up to 2-foot snow drifts that made vision difficult, a group of authorities and volunteers worked together to search the town for the girl.
Finally, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda, a tip was received from a resident who remembered seeing a girl playing with a stray dog close to a shelter. The girl was discovered under a low patio holding the animal as they both lay on a mattress. She was dressed properly for the weather. “Cuddling a fluffy dog for warmth,” the girl claimed. Volunteer searcher Anatoly Ivanov told the newspaper, “The girl’s survival in such weather is truly a miracle.
“We searched all night, but there was nothing to be seen. Additionally, the cold from our gloves made it difficult to stretch our fingers. We began to believe she wouldn’t be discovered alive by morning. How do you expect to stay alive in that freezing weather?” The youngster was rushed to a nearby hospital, and she was able to go home the same day, according to the Russian media site ASTV.