There are far too many stories about children who go missing and end up in terrible circumstances. It’s easy to forget that this isn’t always the case, and that miracles happen in small ways all the time. Sometimes when disaster strikes, just the right stranger will show up to help you out, as it did when a toddler went missing in the woods.
The little girl was out hiking with her grandmother.
Iris Nix was out on a hike in the Oregon wilderness with her grandmother. She was two years old and accompanied by her sister, age 4, and the family’s two dogs.
Her grandmother, Gayla Jay, told reporters that Iris simply started running off and couldn’t be stopped. Eventually, she got lost and Gayla and her other granddaughter couldn’t find her.
The trail diverged in a few different directions. It was impossible to tell which path Iris had taken.
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Things were becoming terrifying for Iris’s watchful grandmother. She tried and tried to figure out where she could find her granddaughter, but she couldn’t figure it out. She spent 20 minutes calling for Iris, but never heard a response. Eventually, she had to try a different way of finding help.
There was no cellphone service where they were on the trail.
Gayla decided that the best course of action was finding someone else who could help her. She walked back to the road and tried to flag someone down. Eventually, a group of loggers stopped and began to help with the search. They called 911 and waited for the Sheriff to come help.
The Sheriff arrived at the scene and closed the road. But just the right person happened to come across this search party.
Tammy Stevens trotted past on her horse followed by her two dogs, Australian shepherds named Maddie and Wilson. Tammy knew the area pretty well and decided to do her part to assist in this rescue mission. She tells KGW8:
“Where they were was really dangerous.”
Because Tammy knew the trail so well, she knew she had to trust her gut instincts.
She separated from the search party and went in the direction she thought was right. She didn’t have a set reason, she just felt she had to try it.
Trusting herself paid off. After searching on her own for a bit, she began to hear little whimpers. When Tammy and her team of animals registered the sound, they all got excited.
Those whimper sounds directed Tammy to a ledge up a steep hill.
Fortunately, this team was up for it. Iris was about 70 feet above them, but it didn’t stop Tammy or her dogs. Tying her horse to a nearby tree, she and Wilson, and Maddie scrambled up the hill to retrieve Iris.
Wilson the dog was the first one who reached her, and it seems he had the right instincts. Tammy describes what she saw when she finally got up to Iris:
“I just followed Wilson and he was just laying with his little front paws on Iris’ lap. She had her little hand on him and she was crying, just sobbing, and oh God…It was the best moment of my life.”
Tammy picked up the little girl and brought her back to family and safety.
With the two dogs and the horse dutifully following Tammy and Iris, the team began to trek back to base camp for the rescue party. On the walk, they also ran into one of the loggers who helped get them back and carry Iris. When they were safe and sound, he gave the little girl juice while they waited for her family to reunite with her.
Iris had been missing for two hours at that point, but she was finally safe and sound.
Learn more about this unforgettable story by watching the video below!
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Source: YouTube – KGW News, KGW8, Oregon Live
