A dog that nearly died with her owner after they started sinking into thick clay on a beach is now working with her at a school.
Olive ran down a cliff and became stuck in the sticky slurry at Trimingham, Norfolk – followed by owner Lorrayne Starr, who raced down to help him.
Dramatic photos showed the pet perched on her chest as they sank into the clay before a passer-by spotted them and raised the alarm.
Eight years later the pair are still inseparable – so much so that they now both work at a primary school where Ms Starr is a teacher and Olive has a role welcoming nervous children into classes, helping them relax so they can focus on learning and encouraging them to socialise with other pupils.
‘Olive is with me in my Reception and Year 1 classes but has free reign at the school so goes off and sees other children,’ said Ms Starr.
Olive (pictured, right) ran down a cliff and became stuck in the sticky slurry at Trimingham, Norfolk – followed by owner Lorrayne Starr (left), who raced down to help him
Dramatic photos showed the pet perched on her chest as they sank into the clay before a passer-by spotted them and raised the alarm
‘She went up to a Year 6 boy recently and it turned out his guinea pig had died that day.
‘She’ll go to children who are reluctant to go into school and walk in with them.
‘When I’m teaching children, someone will be tickling her tummy or stroking her tail. It helps them explore their imaginations – Olive’s always in their stories.’
Olive, who is 13, spent two months training at the Association of Dogs in Schools, at the suggestion of Nikki Taylor, the headteacher at Blenheim Park Primary School in Fakenham.
She has even been immortalised in an Ofsted report three weeks ago in which inspectors said children know they’re ‘safe to speak to adults in the school and Olive the dog’.
The pair’s near-death experience happened in January 2016 when Ms Starr was holidaying in Trimingham with five people, including her then wife, Phillipa Hope.
She went for a walk with Olive, who bolted down a steep cliff into the sticky clay when she put down her lead to take a photo.
Ms Starr, 57, darted after her and became entombed in the clay herself as they slowly sank deeper and deeper.
Eight years later the pair are still inseparable – so much so that they now both work at a primary school where Ms Starr is a teacher and Olive has a role welcoming nervous children into classes
The pair’s near-death experience happened in January 2016 when Ms Starr was holidaying in Trimingham with five people, including her then wife, Phillipa Hope
Desperate calls for help went unheeded for more than an hour.
Speaking at the time, she said: ‘After ages, a dog’s head appeared over the cliffs and I told him to go and get help.
‘When a man’s head appeared soon after, the relief was overwhelming.’
The dog walker, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘She had had the good sense to lie on her back in the liquid mud. She was completely covered in mud.’
The Coastguard was alerted and a Bristow Sikorsky S-92 helicopter was despatched to winch the pair to safety.
Mundesley Coastguard deputy station officer Sam Baggaley said he hadn’t been able to see Ms Starr at first because she was ‘completely covered’ in mud.
‘I was with her for about an hour and during that time she sank another six to eight inches into the mud,’ he added.
‘I was up to my knees in mud and kept in sinking – I lost my boots and socks down there.
‘It was awful. She was very happy to see us and kept apologising for getting us out but I told here that’s what we’re here for.
‘She was close to getting hypothermia – it was very cold down there. She’s an extremely lucky woman.’
Ms Starr said the experience had transformed her life.
She has since divorced, travelled to New Zealand where she lived in a camper van, later moved from St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Hunstanton in Norfolk and took up Reiki.
The Coastguard was alerted and a Bristow Sikorsky S-92 helicopter was despatched to winch the pair to safety
Olive, who is 13, spent two months training at the Association of Dogs in Schools, at the suggestion of Nikki Taylor, the headteacher at Blenheim Park Primary School in Fakenham
‘I should have died by that cliff, so I now have an attitude that life is too short,’ she explained.
‘It’s given me the courage to try new things. It’s a wonderful feeling because nothing will ever be as bad as being in the mud and thinking you’ll never have the chance to do other things.
‘It was a catalyst – life is so precious and short.’