Dog barked for two days until help arrived

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Search teams faced an almost impossible task when ex-patriate scientist Dr Henry Drew disappeared in the Australian outback.  They scoured hundreds of miles of harsh habitat for two days without finding anything.  But then a farmer heard a dog barking frantically and found Dr Drew’s vehicle down a deep embankment covered in undergrowth. Unfortunately, he had not survived the crash but his pet mongrel Moja was still alive.

The three-year-old had stayed at his master’s side and had barked and barked in a loyal effort to help him. Moja, whose name means ‘one’ in Swahili, was hailed a hero by Dr Drew’s grieving family. His widow Jenny and sons Barry, 24, Lawrence, 21 and Pip, 17, said the dog was ‘obviously a hero’. Speaking after her husband’s funeral last week, Mrs Drew said: ‘If it wasn’t for Moja, we’d still be looking.’ The pet, a terrier-rottweiler cross who has been with the family since a pup, sat alongside his master’s coffin for the service. Dr Drew, 53, an agricultural scientist, had taken Moja on a visit to farmers in north- eastern Australia when his Nissan 4×4 careered into the ditch. His wife raised the alarm the next day when he failed to return home or answer his mobile phone. Police and two helicopters began to search a 400-square mile area.

A spokesman for AGL Action Rescue, the Sunshine Coast rescue helicopter service, said the crashed vehicle, about 50 miles from Dr Drew’s home, was ‘impossible’ to see from the air. If it was not for the man’s dog, he may not have been found for some time because his truck was completely covered by trees and our helicopters couldn’t see it,’ he said. ‘This bloke heard the dog barking, it was sitting by the man’s side.’Dr Drew grew up in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, and emigrated to Australia with his family in the 1990s.He lived in Palmwoods, Queensland, and ran a horticultural consultancy.’He died a happy man,’ said Mrs Drew. ‘He loved his family, loved life, loved his work and he loved a lot of people. ‘Henry loved Australia. He thought it was like winning the lotto when he was made a citizen. ‘He loved being on the farms and working with the farmers. He was able to get on with anyone.’ ‘Henry and I had just returned from a trip to Europe which we did because friends of ours recently lost a partner and Henry said we need to do these things while we could. He was like that. Money was not important. He spent a lot of time with his mum in England, helping with her house and garden. Doing little things. He was happy.’