‘Get the puppy.’ After terrible crash, an island dog did just that

In early December, well-known islanders Susan and Colleen Carette got the call all parents dread: their adult son, Matthew Weatherman, had been in a serious car accident involving black ice on a lonely stretch of highway near Banks, Oregon, and had been airlifted to a Portland hospital, where he was fighting for his life.

Susan and Colleen rushed to Matthew’s bedside within hours of the call.

Matthew, age 40, had lived in Portland for more than 20 years, working in farmer’s markets for Baird Family Orchards and earning the nickname “the Peach Guy.” He had recently moved to Astoria, his moms said, but still commuted weekly between Portland and Astoria.

His body had been strong, and his life vibrant and full.

But now, he was in an ICU, intubated, and on heavy pain relievers for a fractured pelvis, lacerated spleen, liver and kidney, nine broken ribs, and five thoracic fractured vertebrates.

Adding to his terrible injuries, something else was very wrong: Susan and Colleen saw Matthew in deep emotional distress, motioning for his missing companion dog, Bravery — a six-year-old papillon and terrier mix who had run away from the first responders saving Matthew’s life, and was now lost in the enormous forest where the accident had occurred.

“Here he is, helpless,” Susan told reporters from Portland Fox 12 affiliate KPTV, who broke the story of what happened. “He kept trying to get up. I know he was trying to go find her … we knew [he was trying to say] ‘Where’s Bravery?’ but he couldn’t.”

Enter Daisy: Colleen’s and Susan’s bright-eyed, 11-year-old mini Australian Shepherd, who had accompanied them from Vashon to Portland.

Daisy was no stranger to Bravery: the two dogs had become acquainted during Matthew’s many visits to Vashon and had also fully bonded only a few weeks before when Matthew house-sat for Susan and Colleen while they vacationed in Mexico.

And so, the next morning, Susan and Colleen, with Daisy in tow, set out with a group of seven other rescuers, including members of Portland’s Waggin Tails Search and Rescue, to find the lost puppy. Much of the search was organized by Jenna Bowers, Matthew’s former partner and still a close friend.

All the rescuers hoped against hope that Bravery had somehow made it through the 26-degree icy night in the forest.

In an email to The Beachcomber, Susan told the incredible tale of what happened near the crash site, three hours into the search — a story that has now also made national news on people.com.

Suddenly, Susan said, “Bravery peered over the road, saw [rescuers], and then dove back down and disappeared into a very steep ravine.”

At that point, Susan and Daisy slid, stumbled and grappled their way down the embankment and found a somewhat level spot. Waggin Tails Search & Rescue had instructed her to find the spot and sit and talk quietly, so Bravery could hear and possibly see both her and Daisy.

Susan kept up her quiet and calm mantra, addressing Daisy.

“I kept asking Daisy ‘Where’s Bravery? Where’s the puppy?’ Susan said. “Suddenly, Daisy stared down into the bottom of the ravine and she let out a couple of cries. Her eyes were locked on Bravery — all I could see were Bravery’s two black eyes and nose buried within the thick brush.”

But there was a sharp drop separating Susan and Daisy from the little lost dog — which Susan feared she couldn’t traverse without alarming Bravery and sending her back into hiding.

“As I sat on the steep slope, I changed my talk with Daisy to ‘Go get Bravery. Get the puppy. Get the puppy,’” Susan said.

And then, it happened.

“Daisy moved forward, looked over the drop, then went down into the ravine to Bravery,” Susan said. “Bravery sniffed Daisy’s ear, then Daisy [began] to walk slowly up the arduous terrain.”

Holding her breath, Susan watched Bravery stiffly follow Daisy back to the spot where she waited to scoop the tired, cold and traumatized dog into her arms.

But now, Daisy had one more task: to help Susan carry Bravey back up the steep ravine to the road.

“I said to Daisy, ‘Let’s go home,’ and she instantly moved ahead of us, creating a path for us to follow her up,” Susan said. “When we hike in Island Center Forest or the Dockton Forest and get to our turning point, I say, ‘Daisy, take me home,’ and she leads the way back. This is exactly what she did to get me out of the ravine with Bravery in my arms.”

That night, Matthew was reunited with Bravery in the trauma ICU unit of the hospital, and his spirits lifted.

“Bravery came and got to smell him and then lick him and Matthew was just so happy,” Colleen told Fox 12 News. “You could just feel the energy emanating in the room.”

“When he was young, we taught our sons ‘I love you’ was [signaling with her hand,] one, four, three,” she added. “We had gotten there before Bravery did, and we told him ‘Bravery’s coming, we found her,’ and all he could do was signal with his hand, ‘I love you,’ over and over, and tears were pouring off of him.”

At that moment, Colleen said, she and Susan knew their son had a fighting chance.

As of press time, Matthew is still on the hospital’s trauma medical floor but will soon be released, according to Susan and Colleen.

Friends of Matthew have set up a GoFundMe campaign for the steep medical and life expenses he now faces — his Oregon State insurance, said his moms, will not come close to paying these costs. (Find out more and donate at tinyurl.com/2dvvpzeb.)

On Dec. 11, Matthew posted an update on the GoFundMe site, which included a photo of him smiling broadly in a hospital gown, wearing both neck and pelvic braces, and telling his supporters he was “alive and well enough.”

Susan and Colleen credit Daisy for much of his recovery, saying that their son is working hard to be able to be fully reunited with and take care of his beloved Bravery once again.

“He’s trying to get up and get ready to have his dog,” Susan said. “Without that little dog, I don’t know how his recovery would have gone. Once the dog was in his arms again — you could feel it in the room — it was a complete turnaround. The energy just shifted.”

And who made that miracle happen?

“Daisy did it, she was the heroine,” Susan said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”