Temperatures dipped to 30 degrees and snow filled the night sky in Hamilton, Ontario this past Sunday as volunteers scoured the wilderness for a missing 73-year-old man with dementia. Alan “Van” Vizniowski was last seen around 6 p.m. the night before. Loved ones feared the search may soon become a recovery mission.
Luckily, Van had a furry guardian angel by his side.
Matt Llewellyn and his wife Sherri (Van’s niece) reported him missing Sunday afternoon. The couple and their children had plans to take a walk with Van in the expansive woods behind his home. When they arrived, they found the house empty, unlocked, and with the back gate standing open.
“We just had a sinking feeling that something wasn’t right,” Matt Llewellyn told CBC News.
After a brief search of the surrounding area, the family contacted Hamilton Police. Friends, neighbors, and good Samaritans answered the call for volunteers and took to the woods.
“We were getting calls from absolute, complete strangers from [all over] who said ‘We have ATVs’ … we’re ready to come down and help you search,” said Llewellyn.
Matt Llewellyn was once a reporter for CBC. He covered several similar stories that ended in heartbreak and secretly feared the worst.
“I know how quickly a tragedy can occur, especially when the weather really started to get nasty.”
Despite thousands of social media shares, help from local police, and the efforts of the volunteer searchers and canine units, it was Van’s own dog Max, a Norwegian Elkhound, who became the hero of the day.
Neil Bannon, Van’s neighbor, saw the Missing/Endangered Senior alert online and headed out into the snow to lend a hand. Having encountered Van and Max in the woods several times, he had a rough idea of where the pair might be. Bannon began calling for Max, whom he was certain would remain by Van’s side.
“The dog started barking and I called out Van’s name and he said ‘Hello I’m here,'” Bannon said. “It was kind of an overwhelming feeling to hear his voice, because the outcome could have been different. I was very grateful to hear his voice.”
Van was quite cold and had lost a shoe so he was unable to walk back on his own. Bannon donated his mittens then climbed to the top of a nearby hill to signal rescuers with his flashlight.
Paramedics reported that Van had mild hypothermia, but was otherwise unharmed.
“I don’t know if I believe in miracles, but honestly, in the last 12 hours I haven’t been able to figure out another way to describe that we found him,” Bannon said. “Had it not been for Max, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Van and his family are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support they received from neighbors and strangers alike. But most of all, they are grateful for Max.
“We’re just so thankful about the dog. Without question it’s his best friend,” said Llewellyn. “Max got to sleep in a bed and got a meal he’s probably not used to and a few extra treats for sure.”
Not all heroes wear capes. #grateful https://t.co/CSuBhujJco pic.twitter.com/9ya0rxjoU8
— Matt Llewellyn (^mll) (@Mattrolinx) November 2, 2020
From all of us at iHeartDogs: Good boy, Max!
H/T to CBC News Canada
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