‘And then the lights went out:’ Dog helps save man, boys in collapsed fort

Bayers said it seemed impossible to get out until his five-year-old golden retriever, Zoose, began digging him out of the snow.

“I heard a bark and felt a tugging on my jacket, so I knew it was my dog,” said Bayers, adding that he’s not sure how long he was trapped under the dense snow.

“He was trying to pull me out. So at that point, I got my bearings and I knew my back was close enough to an exit that if I could free my limbs up and get my leg untangled, there was a chance I could get out.”

Bayers managed to free himself and began calling for help, alerting a neighbour and three friends, who ran over and started shovelling through the heaps of snow to find the two boys.

He says they were buried in the pile for about 10 minutes.

“They were screaming that they couldn’t breathe, but I knew if they were screaming, they were breathing,” said Bayers.

The incident left Bayers with a broken fibula and twisted knee, while his son has a minor concussion and sore neck and shoulder. Inch is sore, but was not injured.

Bayers described it as a “near-fatal incident.” He wanted to tell his story to warn others about the dangers of snow forts and tunnels.

“If I had left those kids there alone, they would have never got out,” he said. “If you are going to build a fort, there should always be an adult there — and do not have a roof on it, and if you do, it has to be a very thin roof.

“If we can prevent this from happening to even one more person, then it’s worth it.”

— By Aly Thomson in Halifax.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

‘And then the lights went out:’ Dog helps save man, boys in collapsed fort

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