It’s a terrifying, heartbreaking situation when your home is struck by a natural disaster. Losing your home and possessions can be devastating.
But one couple who lost their home in a landslide were even more heartbroken after apparently losing both of their dogs to the collapse.
Thankfully, they got a miracle a few days later: one of the dog was unexpectedly pulled from the rubble, still alive after being presumed dead.
On January 7, the Seattle home of James and Didi Fritts was struck by landslide. The house slid off its foundation and the second story caved in, nearly crushing the residents inside.
“It was a loud roar, and the whole thing came down on us,” Didi told KING5. “My mouth and throat were covered, filled with dust. I didn’t know where I was.”
She recalls finding “superhuman strength” in the disaster and was able to make her way out of the rubble. She was able to crawl to safety. Her husband was still trapped inside, but was later rescued by firefighters.
While grateful to have survived the ordeal after nearly being crushed to death, the couple lost their home — and even more devastatingly, seemed to have lost their two dogs, Lily and Sammy.
Lily’s body was spotted underneath the rubble, and was confirmed dead. Sammy was unaccounted for, but the house’s condition made a full search too dangerous, and she was presumed dead.
“There’s just been no hope,” neighbor Remy Olivier, who assisted in the search through the rubble, told the Seattle Times. “We hadn’t been looking for living dogs. We assumed that she was in the crush because there’s not much left of the house. We assumed that she was dead along with her sister.”
But six days after the collapse, a miracle happened. Remy told KING5 that the crew “heard a little cry” from the rubble.
After taking apart the floor, they discovered a survivor in the wreckage: it was Sammy, still alive.
The dog’s survival stunned everyone, and Didi was overcome with emotion: she can be heard yelling “My baby, my baby!” as Sammy is pulled from the rubble.
For a couple who had lost everything and suffered an unimaginably difficult few days, the sight of Sammy being pulled safe from the rubble must’ve been a huge relief.
Sammy was found not too far from her sister, trapped out-of-sight but with “enough room to survive.”
“She wasn’t crushed by anything, or punctured. She had just a tiny bit of room. I guess she was surviving on rainwater the past couple of days,” Remy told Seattle Times.
“It’s just unbelievable that she’s still alive.”
What a miracle. We’re so glad Sammy is alive, an unexpected silver lining for a couple who lost so much.
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