گفتگوی فعال (TAZ to the rescue)-1

Danelle Ballengee is a top athlete. Sports are not just a hobby for
Danelle. She is a champion athlete

She has won competitions in all different types of endurance races. She has competed in 441 endurance races and has come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in 390 of them. Mountain running, biking, swimming and long distance races are just some of the sports she enjoys

As a champion athlete, she is very experienced at pushing her body to the limit. One winter day in 2006, that experience, and her dog Taz, helped save her life.

Taz was a 3-year-old reddish brown dog

Taz was a good dog and enjoyed going on runs with Danelle. On a cool December morning Danelle drove into the country with her dog and parked her truck. She took a bottle of water and locked her cell phone and wallet in the truck.Taz and Danelle began a 10-mile run, which was very short for a long distance athlete. She planned to finish the run and be back by lunch, but she was wrong.

As she ran along the edge of a 60- foot high cliff, she slipped on a piece of ice and fell down into a canyon.
She landed on hard rock. She tried to stand, but she felt a terrible pain and screamed. Her pelvis and back were broken.

She was 6 miles from her truck and very far from any other humans. She felt very alone, but then she heard Taz coming down the cliff. Taz came and stayed by her side as she thought about what to do.

She knew that she had to get back to her truck. She couldn’t walk, but she could crawl. She began to pull herself with her hands over snow and rocks until she made it to the bottom of the canyon. After 5 hours of crawling, she only moved 600 feet and she was still 6 miles from her truck.

Tired and thirsty she broke some ice covering a hole and drank the dirty water underneath.

It was getting dark and cold. She wasn’t dressed warm enough for a winter night. Luckily Taz was there and she held him for warmth. She talked to him all night because she knew if she fell asleep she would get too cold and die.