A dog who was rescued by a Pennsylvania family after Hurricane Helene saved their lives just two weeks later.
Rusty got a new lease on life after surviving Hurricane Helene when the Bannon family chose to adopt him from the hundreds of lost dogs they tried to find new homes for in the wake of the devastation.
Little did the Bannon family know that Rusty would return the favor when just two weeks later, he alerted Gabby Bannon, 29, of a growing fire in their kitchen in Eddystone.
‘It's almost as if he was meant to come into our lives and meant to be there to save us,' she told Fox 29.
Gabby made the decision to travel to North Carolina, where half of the deaths from Hurricane Helene occurred.
Rusty, a shelter dog in North Carolina, was rescued by a Pennsylvania family after Hurricane Helene and returned the favor by saving their lives just two weeks later
Two weeks after joining the family, the 3-year-old pup alerted Gabby Bannon, 29, of a growing fire in their kitchen
Gabby Bannon made the decision to travel to North Carolina alongside her husband, Michael, 39, to help deliver supplies to the affected areas
‘I'd been watching news coverage and seen the devastation of what's happening and said I really want to help,' Gabby said.
Her husband, Michael, 39, wrote on Facebook that the pair would being traveling to North Carolina to deliver supplies to the affected areas.
‘My wife is coordinating with a local rescue to gather supplies prior to the trip!' he wrote. ‘This is what it means to be human – to help out when you can!'
The pair traveled alongside LaMancha Animal Rescue to deliver pet food and other essentials to the areas that were hit the hardest in the wake of the deadly storm.
Three rigs, trucks and trailers full of supplies were transported to the Livestock Center in Canton.
The very next day, they went to the local Humane Society to gather 35 shelter dogs and take them back to Pennsylvania to find them families.
But a certain three-year-old pup immediately stole their hearts.
The couple went to the local Humane Society to gather 35 shelter dogs and take them back to Pennsylvania to find them families – but a certain dog immediately stole their hearts
The dog got a new name – Rusty – and fit right in with the family, including Michael, her two-year-old son, and Wesley, her six-month-old baby boy
He was such a perfect dog that the couple thought he had belonged to a family that was displaced during the natural disaster
‘I took him out of his crate and there was something special about him,' Bannon said. ‘From there it was game over. He's definitely coming home with us.'
He was such a perfect dog that the couple thought he had belonged to a family that was displaced during the natural disaster.
They were originally prepared to drive him back down to North Carolina, but after checking, they realized that the sweet pup was a stray.
He got a new name – Rusty – and fit right in with the family, including Michael, their two-year-old son, and Wesley, their six-month-old baby boy.
Rusty's love and thankfulness for his new family was proven just two weeks later when he began pacing around and barking while Gabby and her children were taking a nap in the upstairs bedroom.
She knew something was wrong when Rusty started to jump and tug relentlessly on her sleeve with no signs of stopping.
‘When I opened my bedroom door, smoke filled the hallway,' she said.
Rusty's love for his new family was proven just two weeks later when he began pacing around and barking while Bannon and her babies were taking a nap
She knew something was wrong when Rusty began to tug relentlessly at her sleeve with no signs of stopping – and when she opened the door, she saw the hallway filling with smoke
The good pup got a nice steak dinner for his diligence
Gabby acted quickly to get her children and pets safely outside before rushing back in to put the flames out.
Thankfully, Rusty made her aware of the situation before it got any worse, but the outcome could have been very different if he didn't.
‘I don't like to think about what that would have looked like,' she added. ‘Potentially we could have been trapped upstairs.'
She said that she will forever be grateful to their rescue pup who ended up rescuing them in the end.
