The survival of a 10-year-old girl in frigid conditions is being hailed as a miracle, all thanks to a special dog. Vika Z, a young girl who loved being around stray dogs on the Russian island of Sakhalin, called on her animal friends for help when she found herself lost in a severe blizzard.

Vika disappeared for 18 hours during a time when temperatures plunged to -11 degrees Celsius. Her family feared the chilling night would be too much for her to bear, but a miracle occurred with the help of a stray dog. This dog deserves a massive round of applause for his empathetic and protective action.

On her way home from school, Vika got disoriented in a harsh blizzard. Two feet of snow fell, with some drifts blocking the ground floors of buildings. But that didn’t deter Vika’s family and the local community from searching.

As the weather worsened, it became nearly impossible to see anything through the falling snow. Vika’s family was calling her name as they scoured the streets. They questioned the locals, asking if anyone had seen her. One witness claimed to have spotted the girl earlier in the day, playing with a stray dog near an apartment complex.

Thanks to that lead, a search party located Vika about a half-mile from her home. She was huddling for warmth with a fluffy dog amidst the blizzard. Both were found sleeping on a mattress that had been laid out for stray dogs beneath a balcony by kind-hearted residents. The balcony provided just enough shelter from the falling snow for the child and the dog.

Once help arrived, the stray dog vanished as if his duty was done. Even though he saved the girl’s life, she still needed immediate medical care due to mild frostbite.

“The girl’s survival in such weather is truly a miracle,” said Anatoly Ivanov, a volunteer from the search party. “We searched all night, but found nothing. Our hands were so numb with cold, even through our mittens, that we had trouble straightening them.”

Vika was reunited with her mother, Tatyana, at the hospital. Thankfully, Vika was only mildly injured and was allowed to return home the same day. And it was all thanks to one mysterious hero dog.

No one knows where the stray dog disappeared to, but the family plans to honor the dog in some way. Perhaps he’ll cross paths with Vika again someday, so he can receive the recognition he truly deserves.