Mason Ryan was barely a year old when his family adopted Banjo. The dog was taken from a shelter and brought to their home in Henry County, Virginia. As expected, the baby boy became very close to their pet as he grew bigger.
This bond that they developed saved Mason when he accidentally got lost when he was three years old.
Following dad
The toddler’s horrifying experience happened one late April afternoon. Mason’s dad, Blake, had to leave the house to do a chore. They thought the toddler was going to his room, but he somehow got outside the house and tried to follow his father. By then, he was already in his car and driving away.
Nobody exactly knew what happened after the little boy got out of the house, but they think that he saw the car leaving and he tried to follow it. He walked very far, and when his mom tried to look for him, he was nowhere near their house.
Thankfully, Banjo was following Mason.
Search and rescue
Frantic that her son was missing, Mason’s mom called her husband and then the cops. After a short while, word got around that a child was missing, and a lot of people came to help look for him. They divided into groups and went inside the woods nearby.
For the next nine hours, no one stopped searching for the boy. It was already dark, and they couldn’t imagine how he was holding up on his own.
Then at three in the morning, one of the groups heard a dog barking repeatedly. They followed the sound, and they found Banjo. The small pooch then led them to Mason.
As it turned out, the dog never left the toddler’s side. And when he heard the humans, he quickly sought them out.
Mason was taken to the hospital where he was treated for scratches all over his body. The boy walked for several miles barefoot. And thanks to their pet, he was found before anything terrible could happen.
Source: WSLS 10 via Youtube