Dogsey

A quick thinking dog raised the alarm after his owner's car overturned, hurling retired farmer, Donald MacGregor, 65, into a dark field. The dog's action enabled Mr MacGregor's daughter to get timely emergency help for her father, who had suffered a punctured lung, fractured vertebrae and multiple broken ribs.

Mr MacGregor's daughter, Shiela, told how two-year-old terrier, Zulu, ran half a mile from the scene of the accident on the island of Kerrera, near Oban, to her home.

“His dog came to the door,” she explained. “I knew it was strange the dog just turning up like that, so straight away I thought something must have happened.

I went out on the quad bike and heard my dad shouting.”



Mr MacGregor's rescue was far from straightforward. Bad weather would delay rescue by RAF rescue helicopter so while neighbours alerted a local ferryman, Shiela's husband Corrie Louw carried Mr MacGregor to the quad bike and Shiela drove him to the pier at the south end of the island. An ambulance was waiting 600 yards away on the mainland to rush Mr MacGregor to the Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban, where he stayed before being moved to a hospital in Glasgow the next day. He is now being treated for fluid on his lungs.

Shiela said her father's accident proved that the island's “awful” roads need improvement. She added that had she reached Mr MacGregor 20 minutes later, the tide would have dropped and he would have been stuck on the island.

Thanks to Zulu the terrier's quick action he was able to get help.

Story brought to our attention by Carole.