Worst Case Scenario with Abi Clarke and Julia Stenton - Day 13 - Danelle Ballengee

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

In Danelle Ballengee's worst case scenario she took comfort in one fact... she has with her, her best friend. Her dog Taz.Abi leads this week's episode as she fill Julia in on Danelle's exploits as a world leading extreme athlete and how one simple short solo run almost ended in disaster and how Taz the dog aided Danelle's survival and eventual rescue!Send in your own worst case scenario to [e-mail] and please follow the podcast on Instagram @wcspod to see pictures mentioned by Abi and Julia on this episode and all episodes so far as well as some fun video extras.Theme tune by the brilliant Crizards who can be found on Instagram @crizardsAbi and Julia are in Edinburgh this August for the Fringe Festival. Get tickets to see Abi here and Julia here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get attacked by an angry shark Sluck up a mountain in the dark Pushed up the top of a big landmark Hit by lightning in your local park A cordon a downpour of acid rain Struck by meteorora train A proton beam passing through your brain Attacked by that angry shark again

Hear how they survive Trappled by a herd of buffalo Chaste with an axe by your new friend Joe Ehrie alive in a pile of snow Worst case scenario. Hello. Hi. Welcome to Worst case scenario.

The podcast where we tell other people's stories. Survival stories. Yeah, about how they've survived. That started well. It kind of went downhill. The worst case scenario. I thought we were going to do that like story thing when like you do a word, I do a word. Oh.

Just we felt so in sync for just one moment. Sorry. I'm out of sorts because there's no loud drop today. It's a weird. day. I walked into the studio and it was just peace. And that feels wrong. I was only greeted by you and I didn't. I, I mean... Well, to be fair, I usually walk into the room and find you running round going, with a dog. Yeah. Yeah. Really hyping him up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really encouraging aggression. I mean, I think he starts it. I don't want to place blame, but he's definitely... I think

you guys are kind of toxic together actually. He's more lively than I am. You encourage a real chaotic vibe. I don't know. I think it chills him out for the rest of the show. He does really chill out during the show though. It's great. That's when I love him most.

But he's not here today. He's at the vets, getting his balls measured. Yes. To then be removed. Cut, sliced from his body. Sorry to any male listeners. That was quite triggering. But he's gone, which is actually really annoying

because I'm doing a fully dog-themed episode today. Oh my God. The one day? Yes. There's no dog. Oh. Oh, but that'll be nice, though, because it'll feel like there is a dog.

Maybe this is the best time to do a dog-themed episode. Perhaps. Though I would have really liked to have done it. And then been able to immediately pat a dog. Yes. Because this episode, I promise you, will leave you wanting to pat so many dogs. Oh, my God.

You're going to be dog, horny, dog. What's it when you want to have a baby? Jesus, what is this story? Broody. Broody. Okay. Whichever you prefer. Do you have any dog survival stories?

I don't have any dog survival. So my parents have got a dog called Spike. He is a small, fluffy dog. He looks like a teddy bear. He goes to the groomers, as most small fluffy dogs do. Hopefully not the same one Loudrop goes to. No. Well, he's been through a few.

groomers because my friend is a vet she's actually a dog behaviorist so she knows her shit when it comes to dogs and she's made me feel a lot better about this behavior from Spike oh god what does he do he went into the um vet the groomers once and he expressed his anal glands wait was he meant to well apparently that's a fear response oh um some dogs just do it Like, I think Spike just does it quite a lot. Like, he just, like, willy-nilly does it. Well, we all have to do it. I mean, okay.

What? We're just talking about pooing, right? No. Oh, what's express your own girl? So, it's a different thing. So, like, it's like, I don't know, it's like juice that, like, has to be expressed. It smells horrendous. It smells like fish.

Like, it is disgusting. So he, like, peeves out his butt? Kind of. Kind of. It's like, it's not as much as pee. He's a squirter. Yeah, yes, essentially, except it smells foul and he's not having fun when he's doing it. Oh my God. But sometimes I think he does just do it randomly. Anyway, so he did it when he was like the groomers and the groomers rang my mum and were like, you need to come and collect your dog. He's just expressed his anal glands all over me and I refuse to cut his hair. And so my mom had to go and like, tell between her legs. It's already happened now. Exactly. And also, this cannot be, you're a dog groomer. This cannot be the only time this has. happens like surely surely this has happened before anyways then dog uh dog uh spike was not allowed

then back to that groomers so he's been getting banned he's been banned from that groomers is his picture on the wall i imagine so big line through it do not let this dog enter yeah this dog will ruin your day yeah he also we went to my brother lives in vancouver we went to visit him on christmas and the dog stayed with my friend rosa her mom um and And she took the dog round for like a big family party and there was another dog there. And Spike started humping the other dog to like an extreme extent. And Rose's family found this so funny. Like I got sent so many videos of Spike just humping this dog.

And then apparently this dog was like the sweetest dog ever. And then since Spike's visit, this dog now pumps everything in sight. So he's a very bad influence. He's just real like childhood trauma doing it. later in life yeah or maybe just like hey this is fun maybe try this maybe or maybe it's like when the bullies got bullied yeah maybe and then they become bullied yeah has that vibe yeah talking of sexually active so I borrow buddy a gorgeous sausage dog I wasn't really like a sausage dog kind of person okay but this dog he he he does it like he he's convinced me he's great

and he's he's a dog you're proud to walk down the street and he's he's a dog you're proud to walk down He doesn't attack any dogs. He doesn't have issues with any people. That's good, because sausage dogs can be quite yacking. Yeah, like he's really friendly. You can really trust him. So you're not, like, worried. But we went, I, a friend, Ellie, had visited from Bristol.

And I wanted to introduce her to Buddy, because I'm so proud of Buddy. I'm like, look at this dog. Isn't he great? So I was wanting him to be on his best behavior. We went to a cafe in the park and he was getting real into this female dog. Yeah. Thing is with Buddy is he done. does still have his balls, right?

I don't know why. I don't know, I don't actually know how old buddy is. People always ask me on the walk and I have to be like, ah, he's young at heart. He's not my dog. I don't like saying he's not my dog there because usually he's being really cute and I wanna claim him.

Right. But anyway, I think it's because he's, his owner is a bachelor and just he just as a man can't cut another man's balls off. Like I honestly think that's why. Anyway, he was really interested in this like girl dog and it was fine at first because he's not, he's not, like, annoying.

He wasn't humping her or anything, but he kept sniffing her butt. And she was fine at first, and then she was like, okay, fuck off now. Yeah, enough enough enough. And the other dog's owner was there, so I was like, oh, I'm just going to pick him up. Pick him up to reveal the biggest erection.

Wow, buddy. I've ever, okay, not what I've ever seen. That's real harsh to it. Any boy I'm stuck with. Ever. This stashin's penis. Genuinely, I didn't know penises could get so big. Oh my God.

No, but like, I've never seen a dog's penis so. fully erect like he really came out yeah it was real grower buddy was ready to go and then i just showed it to the whole cafe and this other woman whose dog had been following and i was like i'm so sorry and then it was me like it's not my dog oh even better yeah now he's nothing to do with me now he's being cute he's definitely my dog so later outside the cafe there was a like school um so it was like teenagers with special needs and teachers and buddy was so good oh okay like they'd throw the ball for him he went and got it like they'd fuss him like he was like doing real I was worried and I was like yeah this is my fucking dog this is yeah this is mine you feel free pet him have a great time isn't he good I know

we've really we've really worked hard on him and then as seen as he was in that cafe getting an erection I was like this is not my dog yeah I'm not claiming this dog and yet you're parading his erection around the cafe. What am I meant to do? I picked him up not knowing there'd be an erection. Put him straight down. Put him down again.

But then he'd go after the girl again. Yeah. Like genuinely, even on my lap, he was like trying to get down onto the floor to go after this yard dog. He was in love. I'd probably hot foot it out at the cafe at that point. No, but I wanted my coffee.

And so then, yeah, so I couldn't put him down now knowing he had the erection. So we just had to kind of wait for the erection to slowly go down. And you're still holding him up like Simba? Fully erect. Not Simba. more of like a...

This poor dog, poor buddy. Why poor dog? Well just because like nobody, in that vulnerable estate no one should have to be paraded in front of a cafe full of people as they watch your erection go down.

Don't hassle women who aren't interested. She said no. Yeah, okay. Respect that, buddy. And if you can't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry what happens next. You're going to be shamed in front of the... Not my fault.

The patrons. Yeah, fair. It's bad there because maybe he is like just a teenager you know when boys can't help getting an erection at school but like he doesn't he doesn't have a belt to tuck it into yeah everybody knows yeah you're like the teacher who's then gone look everybody he's got a boner look i was on the female side i was there to help the woman in the situation as i always am yeah lovely should tell a story yeah oh okay okay okay All right.

So I had a whole story that I was going to do, but then hot 24-hour news. Yeah. Australian man found at sea on boat with dog and the amount of messages we got. Inundated. I mean, a lot for us, I guess, maybe not compared to bigger podcasts. But we got a lot. We felt a lot of attention. But we can't do that story yet because there's not enough information on it.

And everyone was like, Abby needs to do this story. It has everything, aka it has a dog. So I was like, to please the listeners, let's try and find another story with a dog. Okay. And this is it. Amazing. And I am so excited. I think it's one of my favorites so far.

Okay. So, great. It's Wednesday, 13th of December, 2006. okay uh take that a number one in the UK with their song patience i remember it something our survivor is going to need a lot of okay uh Beyonce dominates the charts in the US with her song irreplaceable oh my god such a tune a word that could be described no a word that could be used to describe our loyal companion from this story and Robin Williams he's back we got we got some complaints that I forgot to do it the last few ones I did see that

Oopsie, he's back. Robin Williams has just starred in a movie called Man of the Year, which I'll be honest, seems like it was a survival of his own career, according to the reviews. Oh no. Didn't go down well. I was going to say, I don't remember that one? No, neither.

But it was like, oh, it had a terrible rating on Rottenmise. Oh, dear. I don't remember, I think it literally like 20, 40, I don't know, real bad. But it's okay. because also in December 2006, he's about to walk the red carpet for his performance as Teddy Roosevelt in the first Night of the Museum movie, which he smashes. Right. So, you know. It's not all doom and gloom. Ups and downs. Yeah. It's a roller coaster. Enjoy the ride. 13th of December was a cold, sunny December day in Utah, though. We're in Utah. Okay. It's about seven degrees Celsius.

Chili? Don't make me do that in Fahrenheit. I don't know. out yourself um when four-time pikes peak marathon winner world champion adventure racer and six-time four-sport u.s athlete of the year oh denel belenge set out for a run in the moab utah desert with her hyper squirrel chasing dog tasman tas for sure cute okay do we know what kind of dog tas is he's a mutt oh love that he's a mongrel yes Um, so as a two-time world champion in the extreme sport of adventure racing, this girl is like a b-knock in endurance sport. Okay.

Big deal. Yeah. Very fit, uh, likes to push her body to the extreme. Why? Um, I don't know. I mean, satisfying. Good for her. I guess.

Good. Um, and she says that, like she was saying, she's, she's quite good at pushing it, but not crossing the line. Oh, okay. You know? Yeah. But yeah, she's a big deal in that world. Yeah.

She's a seven-time Iron Man triathlon finisher. Jesus Christ. And she actually lived in Colorado, but she frequently used Moab as a training ground. And luckily, Taz the Mutt often got to go along. Oh. He loved to run with her, and sometimes they'd run for a couple of hours at a time. As a professional endurance athlete, she often went on training runs by herself. and had done this particular route

that she's going to do on this day before. It's one of her favourites. So she's gone out on this rum in the Moab Desert. As you know, desert, you know, gets hot, gets cold. Not much, it's very barren. Yeah.

Two days later, though, Dinell's neighbour, 76-year-old Dorothy, would notice that Dinell's blinds had not been closed and the lights had been consistently on in Dinell's house, even through the night for like two days now.

Everybody needs a neighbour like Dorothy. What, a nosy seven-y-neigh-year-old? You do, though. Those lights haven't been off. They're the ones that are going to notice when something's off. Nobody else notices that other than a Dorothy. You know, the horrible murder in Bristol

of that, the girl, who, you know, got a pizza at Tesco and everyone was like, where is the pizza? The guy who actually killed her because there was the landlord on top and the guy who actually killed her downstairs, He had, like, told the police, ooh, upstairs neighbour's guy's car changed direction in the night.

And you're like, who notices that? Yeah. So maybe Dorothy's the killer. Oh, gosh. Dorothy's hiding something. Because if you notice those things, maybe they're getting too involved in the investigation. Yeah. But no, allegedly, Dorothy is innocent.

Okay. So Dorothy notices. She looks through the window and can see Dinell's laptop still, like open on the coffee table fucking how Dorothy this is getting a bit much now she sees what she's looking at she's gone straight to the window

the screen door is propped open and the doors are unlocked so she tries the door Dorothy's just fully breaking and entering now basically but for good if it's open if it's unlocked is it breaking and

entering. If you don't have to break to enter. I mean, it's just entering. Yeah. She's just entering. But she's obviously worried. So she calls Donnell's parents and finds out they also haven't been able to reach her. Uh-oh. So they call the police for a welfare check. Yeah. When the police visit... Well, they don't need to do a welfare check. Well, Dorothy's already scouted the house out. And walked right through the crime scene. Yeah. I don't think she went... Trampled over everything. I don't I think she went in, she just, like, tried the door and was like, why is that open? Yeah. Look, let's stop having this dorothy hate, all right?

Yeah. Dorothy saves the day. Right. When police visit, they find no signs of foul play. It just seems like she's left without locking up. So where was done out? Yeah. That's got to be suss, though.

Who leaves without locking out? Really strange. Although maybe if you go on long runs, you don't want to carry your keys. Do you want them jangling as you're running? Maybe this is a regular thing for her. No, I remove one key and then I put it in, you know where they put like some padding in a sports bra. You know, that little hole, but you take it out for a wash.

Yeah. Pop a key in there. Oh, okay. It's the only time I'm able to keep anything in my brow. Right. Yeah, so maybe you think she's done, she would normally do that. So like I lock up. I don't, yeah, I mean, I'm not going to give details of when I lock up or not.

I think it probably just depends where you live. Yeah. Maybe, I think in certain areas. Well, when you've got neighbourhood watch like Dorothy, I'm supposed. In like the depths of Devon, they just leave their houses open. Yeah, true. And I find that fucking terrifying. Yeah, that is scary.

But anyway, everything's left open. It just looks like she's just left. Mm-hmm. Very strange. Yeah. 35-year-old Donnell and three-year-old Taz had headed out for their trail run just before noon on Wednesday. Mm-hmm. And it was now Friday.

Right. And no one had seen her. Gosh. On a hunch, a detective who knew of Dernal because of her Beinock status, on a hunch decided to go just check kind of places people parked around local trails. Oh, that's good. And he eventually finds her truck with kayak on top because apparently after her run she was going to go kayaking. Oh, my gosh.

This woman. how are you just not constantly exhausted yeah um so he finds finds the truck um near the amasa back trail and at 104 pm he alerts grand county search and rescue that denel could be lost in the desert so let's go back to wednesday okay what what day are we on now that was Friday that was Friday okay she went out and a run on Wednesday they alert search teams on Friday right yes and we're going back to Wednesday and we're going back to Wednesday day one okay for example there um so it's around noon uh and welcome to Danelle's outfit of the day oh she is dressed comfortably for a short run in silk long long underwear a water resistant top a thin fleece jacket

baggy running pants a fleece hat and gloves long underwear yeah What is long underwear? I don't know. Like long, long johns? Yeah? Or like a long-sleeved vest and long leggings or something? Right. I've never worn long underwear.

I don't know what... Because if it's cold enough for me to need long underwear, I just won't go. Yeah. But surely in any scenario, you have short underwear as well as your long underwear. Oh, probably, yeah. Oh, okay. So this is like... Like, often on outfits of the day, you're not like, I'm wearing underwear.

It just seems weird to mention underwear at all. Because it's like, it's for warmth, isn't it? Right, so it's like... This is what she has on for warmth. So it's like thermals. Yeah, thermals. Right, okay, I'm with you, right. I see.

So she drives to the trailhead of the Amasa back trail, where they found her car. Yeah. Parks up, she locks her phone and wallet in her truck before setting out. On purpose? Like... The fact that she was going to do... an hour and a half run. No music.

With no music. It's kind of the craziest thing of this whole story. She hasn't got one of those little clip on iPods. No? Jesus. Like I hope Taz is chatty. Just alone with her thoughts.

Right? I could not be alone with my thoughts for that long. No, thank you. Like I need at least one podcast. I can't do any exercise with a podcast. See, I only do podcasts. Really? Yeah, because like music, I have to keep to the beat.

And then that means I either go too far. or too slow. Oh, I see. And also it makes me start to hate the music because I listen to the same kind of music. Whereas a podcast, it's always a different episode. It's different. Yeah.

It distracts me. It's like watching telly. I think it doesn't distract me enough. Yeah. From... The best is having a chat. I like to run with someone and have a chat. Yeah.

Like, do your own podcast. I guess that does distract. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, yeah. But she was just running in the open air with Taz the dog, who as far as I know can't talk so fucking mad she has a last minute thought before leaving though

she can't bother to carry her water bowl so she grabs a fanny pack aka a bum bag once again here it is a very important piece of equipment as we know for survival she's going to run with a bum bag on I mean it's quite a small one it's like a waist belt thing with a water bottle in it

yeah that's true I guess it's like probably one of those smaller running water bottles. You're going to get some bruising after that. But yeah, she grabs it so that she can put her water bottle in. Okay. She doesn't know what's already in it at the time. It's just left over in the Bambah. From like a past race. Okay. So she takes it just last minute on a whim and sets off. As I said, she doesn't know it at the time, but it contains two raspberry-flavored energy gels, right? Two ibuprofen pills and a shower cap, which adventure racers often wear to prevent heat loss. Wow, that is interesting. Yeah. That's a funny image as well, a load of people running around with a shower caps on.

Yeah. Like massive men. Yeah. Like just with their little shower caps on their bald heads. In my head, they're those like 1950s pink flowery ones. Yeah, could be. Yeah. They are. I've decided. That's absolutely what they're wearing. Yeah. They're all matching, like little synchronized swimmers. Yeah, all varying colors, like pastels. Like a soap and glory advert. Yes, exactly. And one article said this one probably saved her life.

So shower cap may be up for the win. Okay. But let's see. So Moab is famous for being an outdoor mecca. The town is a popular base for exploring national parks, mountain biking, and river grafting. So that's all the carnacles for, I guess. Despite its beauty though

It can be hostile and dangerous And just in the month before Dinell went on the run Two men had fallen victim to it Freezing to death And rescuers were often called out To hikers in distress in this area But obviously Dinell has the most experience Of this kind of area

She's done this route before If anyone knows what they're doing In this environment She's not just a hiker that's going to get lost No. She's not getting lost. She knows what she's doing. And it is comforting that rescuers know the area

and are used to getting out there. So it's not like... For sure. Unfortunately, the route Dinell was doing wasn't on any map. Oh, for fuck's sake. She... Who are these people who need to run new trails?

Or walk new trails. Do the normal trails. Yeah, what we're learning is it does get you into a little bit of trouble. Stick to the route. The emergency services know. Stick to the path. Already. Yeah.

She does it all the time. time, right? It was a 90-minute run, eight-mile trek through Sandy Red Desert. So, like, not a long one for her at all. Yeah, it went through the desert, rock formations. It began on the popular Amassaback Trail, so that's all right. That's quite popular. But then it veered off after a few miles into a more obscure Jeep trail, used mainly by locals known as the Mine Sweeper. And then from there, Dinell would scramble up the side of a hidden canyon and head towards Hurrah path. Because you've made it. Hurrah!

I mean, I don't think you can, you can, like, save Minesweeper with Hurray Par. Hurrah. Sorry, Harrah, if you will, thank you. We're just going to breeze right past that, are we? Yeah, because, hurrah! You've made it. You've made it past the mines. Don't worry about that.

I assume minds aren't, I assume it's more of like a vibe name. Even as a vibe name, that's a vibe I don't want. Anyway, after the hurrah pass, she would loop back to a road that led her to a truck. That was the route. She was an hour into her run, so at half an hour left of the 90 minutes, with five miles completed and only three more to go when she was hiking up a small canyon to connect to the Jeep trail. So I think this is the hurrah pass section.

I don't know that for sure. But that's, from hearing that route, I feel like Minesweeper isn't the issue. Okay. I think her up pass gave some false promises. Oh, I see. So she's hiking up a small canyon to connect to the Jeep trial that would complete her loop, and almost at the top, her foot suddenly hits some black ice on the steep slope and her feet slip out from underneath her.

Next thing she knows, she's sliding straight down an icy rock face, rapidly picking up speed and out of control, she hits a series of ledges on the way down. Oh my God. It becomes steeper and steeper and then overhang. Fuck. She free falls

different things and different articles 20 to 40 feet. She finally slams into a two foot by two foot, two feet. Either, whatever. Square ledge 60 feet below from where she first.

fell above another sheer drop. The pain was excruciating and she lay there for a minute in shock, the wind knocked out of her and is immediately worried she might be paralysed. She tries to stand up but she calm. She doesn't know what's wrong but her lower torso just won't support her weight. She later finds out that on impact her pelvis has shattered. Fucking hell! Three of her vertebrae were fractured and her sacrum was split down the middle. The sacrum is just above your tailbone at the base of the lumbar vertebrae and connects

to the pelvis. Yeah. So nothing but soft tissue connected her legs to the rest of her body. What the hell? How is she getting out of this? Okay. She knows she has to get out of the canyon. Yeah.

ASAP, this is bad. But she's in a thousand square miles of bank. un-inhabited wilderness, she hasn't told anyone where she's going, and as we know, she didn't have her phone with her. Oh my God. Oh my God. So she decides to try and move to a location. Pop that in the bum bag next time. Like, yeah. If you're going to take the bag, like, thank God she decided to take the water and not leave the water. The thing is, is I don't take a phone when I'm running with someone, but then you have someone else. Yeah. But, yeah, running on your own without a phone, I think is quite bad.

I think you should always take a phone with you. So basically, what she decides to do is try and move location to somewhere where she's more likely to be discovered. That's kind of her only hope is someone kind of like happening upon her. Stumbling upon it, yeah. By this time, Taz has managed to find his way down to her so she knows there is a way out. Oh, amazing. Because she's fallen down. and he was up on the path.

But clever little doggy has found a little route down. So she knows there's a way out. So she uses Taz as a guide following where he goes along the shelf and down to the bottom of the canyon. So obviously her legs, she can't leave her legs. So she drags herself with her arms.

Wow. She drags herself. Her endurance training of like got to keep moving, keeps her going. Basically, she's fueled entirely. by endorphins and adrenaline. Okay. Like adrenaline is just...

Pumping. Like she's not really feeling much pain because of the adrenaline and she's just dragging herself. Okay. But it's like slow, obviously. So something that took her like two minutes to run up.

Yeah. It's taking her hours now. Yeah. To drag down. When she makes it to the bottom, her plan is to drag herself all the way back to the truck. but her adrenaline is now wearing off

and it takes all her energy to drag herself just an inch and the pain is so bad she has to regroup after every move so energy wearing she now checks the waist pack the little bum bag yeah um she takes two of the ibuprofen tablets that'll do it you would straight down straight down all it's in my head is my mum being like you can't take it without a bit of food yeah i was thinking that too I'm not on an empty stomach. That's not touching the sides.

To me, no, I was actually laughing, being like, so that's not true. Actually, I did take ibuprofen once on an empty stomach, and I vomited. Really? It was awful, yeah. I really got taught a lesson there. I was like, oh, that's true.

Yeah, don't do that. Yeah, it gives you stomach pulses, isn't it? It was awful. It was so bad. But also in the bum bag is one of those raspberry energy packs. Oh, yes. So she has a little bit of that.

A little bit of energy, a little bit of sugar. Nice. Get that ibuprofen down, yeah. And she tries to keep crawling through sand, brush, and snow, so there is some snow. Her screams echoing through the canyon as she drives herself along.

Eventually, she reaches a flat rock near a tiny puddle filled with water. When I say tiny, they usually are. Oh, yeah. Sorry, like a tiny, like sinkhole, like hole that has a puddle in it. Right. I think that's what I meant when I wrote that down.

Right. And she decides to rest for a moment. It was now 6pm and it had taken her five hours to crawl just a quarter of a mile. It was getting dark and she couldn't see where she was going. Her hands are frostbin. Oh my God. She looks down the edge of the rock. Oh God, yeah, because it's December.

Yes, it's December. Looking hell. She sees that it's a four foot drop So this is like not the route to safety Yeah So she lies on her back On the rock face And decides to stay by the puddle

For the night Yeah Is she drinking from the puddle Is that why she's staying Near the puddle? She's just about to yeah Yeah Okay

But yeah It's a water source Yeah Her only comfort is Taz's Constant companionship Through all of this He doesn't go anywhere Of course he doesn't

He's a good boy He's such a good boy And she also knows that, like, if any wild animals come, Taz is there as protection. He'll have a go at them. Yeah. So she drinks the last of her water bottle, because she does have a water bottle. Yeah. Puts our hands between her legs to keep them warm.

But now dehydration is a worry. Yeah. And she decides that parasites from the dirty water is better than no water at all. So she refills her bottle from the puddle. but like kind of unable to move she has to kind of like reach blindly she can't see what she's doing oh god so she kind of reaches blindly either behind her or kind of to the side of her um and kind of uses her bottle cap as like a scooper to try and get water into because the puddle's quite small yeah so she tries to like scoop water into the water bottle with the cap okay um and and she said

that it was really difficult to get water in the bottle or her and that there was a lot of silt there She limits her water though Because she knows if she drinks too much She'll have to urinate And in her condition She'd have to wet herself And then she's cold Well there we go

And then the moisture would then freeze on like Her skin and her clothes And it would make her more likely to freeze to death So like only pure willpower Has stopped her from peeing already So like these are my least favourite things Cold and needing to pee Yeah. I mean, that long underwear, that's retaining some moisture, for sure.

If she has to, if she has to wet herself, she's fucked. Maybe a nappy could go in the survival kit. Can you fit a nappy in a bum bag? For sure. Do you think so? Yeah. I cannot. I cannot tell you how great a bump bag is, do you? Nappies are quite big. Yeah, but you can roll them up.

Especially if they're for adults. You can Marie-condo them, you know, really roll of that small, pop them in. Yeah. Pop them in an inside. pocket. I'd still go the phone. I think I'd go the phone over the nappy. Oh, I never said you had to take the phone out to put the nappy in. I was just, I was just suggesting more. Both. Let's have a phone and a nappy. Phone and a nappy. Okay. Okay. So we're on night one now. That was day one. Night has fallen. As the night went on, the temperature drops to around minus five

degrees. And Danelle's worried about hypothermia. She describes it as like lying in a freezer. and her feet are beginning to get frostbite. She didn't want to fall asleep, knowing that if she did, she probably wouldn't wake up. So despite her injuries, what do you think she does to stay warm? Cuddles the dog? No.

She does sit-ups. Oh my God. Oh, my God. So I mean crunches. So she can only lift her head a few inches. Like she can't use her torso. But she does crunches, lifting her head only a few inches up and down over and over again to keep her core temperature up.

That's so clever. I would never, ever think to do that. She's an endurance lady. Oh my God. I just, I've written, can you imagine being in this situation and then you've got to do sit-ups? Awful. Like, well, I've got some time to kill. Might as well be more miserable.

And like, at first I was like, okay, that's a good idea. Like, it sounds bad, but I didn't really take into how bad. that sounds, until I watched the documentary and they kind of really went into the sit-ups and they said, basically, she starts to fatigue and then is like, I need to find a pace that I can keep up the whole night. So she forced herself to do one sit-up every five seconds.

That is outrageous. I was like, that's a normal pace. Yeah. When she's like, I need to find a pace, that I can keep. I was like, that's my naughty. How quickly was she sit-uping? So every five seconds for the entire night,

she does a sit-up. She does get some heat from Taz snuggling, like you said, which is nice, but he can't actually get too close to her because it hurts her if he, like, puts any weight on her, like, injuries. Dogs are so good, though, at recognising, like, when you're sad or in pain,

or something and then adjusting to it. Yeah. Exhausted and freezing, she has no choice but to stare up at the night sky, which was full of stars. She said the shooting stars would have been beautiful had I been that by choice. Yeah. Okay, so day two. Okay. Light has returned. She appreciates the warmth of daylight and is cheered by the presence of Taz. One article was like, she was like cheered by Taz playing with a stick, but I only saw that in one. So I don't how seriously Taz is taking this situation. I'm not sure. But like obviously nice to have him there. Yeah. But by day two, he is growing restless now. He spends the day running off and

returning. Each trek seemingly longer than the last. So he kind of disappears for a bit. He's like lassie off to look for help. Well, she doesn't know what he's doing. She thinks he's just kind of like, I don't know, enjoying himself. He's running off. He's running off. He's coming back, he's checking on her, he's running off again. Okay. He could just be bored. She allowed herself a little more of the energy gel. She tries to get more water from the puddle,

but the puddle is now frozen over. So she has to break the ice with her bottle cap. Having survived the night, she still intends to now drag herself to the truck. Okay. But when she goes to move... Do we know how far away from the truck she is? Three miles. Oh, okay.

Right. But also that is kind of... because she was going up a hill to a road that connected back to the truck. Yeah. So that's up. Oh, three miles up hill. Yeah. Or five miles down.

Oh, God. That's where she is. What are you choosing three miles up or five miles down? I mean, I don't know if you have a choice. I think maybe up is impossible. I mean, I'd try three miles up. If your bum is broken, because, like, sliding down, like, think, you know when you, like, fall on your bum and then you get, like,

winded because you like hurt that phone at the bottom of your like yeah that's definitely the same i i like that's like a fraction of what she's going through so the idea of going down you'd have to go down face first oh yeah you have to do face first she's dragging with her arms okay on her on her tummy but she's chosen up um she currently hasn't gotten that far in any which way direction. I think she attempts up and then she attempts down. She's just, she's just trying. But at the moment, all she did was just get out of that really precarious spot she was in. Yes. So she's still intending to drag herself to the truck. I'm not sure which way. But when she goes to move, she experiences horrendous pain throughout her body. She now can't move at all.

even the slightest motion brings unbearable pain a pain she couldn't describe and she realizes it's because the adrenaline has now completely worn off and the ibuprofen and the ibuprofen that was definitely doing a lot

what's worse is she now has a headache and her period pain is the worst so now she's stuck she's in a lot of pain and she said the mental pain of feeling stuck was just as bad as the physical pain oh god she said in the

thing I watched. She was like I would have rather had six people around me hitting me with a hammer than like be just trapped on my own. Wow. She also started to feel some inflammation in her midsection. It was soft and squishy and if she moved the whole jelly roll moved like a water balloon. It wasn't just inflammation though. What Dinell doesn't know is when her pelvis shattered her pelvis has severed blood vessels in the pelvic cavity and she's been internally bleeding this whole time. Fucking hell. Yeah.

So she thinks her greatest risk is hypothermia. But actually the cold is what's keeping her alive because it's slowing her metabolism and lowering her blood pressure. So she's not bleeding out. So it's slowing the internal bleeding. Oh, okay. How mental is that?

That's crazy. she spends the next 10 hours screaming for help as is the way in December darkness comes quickly and the sun disappears night two so she stays in the same spot does she that for the second day okay the canyon once again becomes freezing cold this is when she sees the shower cap

from the fanny pack it's a few feet away and knowing see this is where there's differing things of when she's able to drag herself again because I think it wasn't until morning but then this said this happened at the night but she does apparently manage to drag herself. You've decided it wasn't until morning but the evidence is saying. No, no no so the first hand account

didn't mention this. Oh okay. But it was in a like article. Yeah. So maybe she just missed it because it's an interview. Like it's just what you say on the day and then maybe in a more in-depth article or maybe the article's wrong.

I see. Which do you trust more? Yeah, yeah. But in her in-person one, day two and night two, she just doesn't move. She doesn't move, okay. But here it said that she did drag herself two feet to get the shower cap. Yeah, okay. Who knows? Right. Either way, it's not very far.

No. Shower cap's on. Yeah. She's staying warm. That night she can't see the stars that she previously saw, just long white stripes in the sky. She knows she's probably hallucinating and her body is shutting down. Oh, no. She was losing a lot of blood internally, as we know.

Are they not just clouds? What, no, no. In the desert? She's seeing like... Do you park in the desert? I sound like done now, don't I? Basically, no, it's like her vision. It's like, you know, when there's white light

and they just turn into like a line. Right, okay. it's like it's cut like an old school video yeah VHS it's like cutting out yeah okay like static um because later she starts to lose vision so it might also be to do with that either way her body's shutting down yes and what she's seeing isn't what's there isn't real yeah the night felt longer and colder than the last one her frostbite was growing and the bulge of internal hemorrhaging in her midsection was growing taz's behavior changes on this night he's not kind of his happy go lucky himself he's getting concerned he knows something's off yeah

and he doesn't snuggle her he lies away from danelle and danelle thinks that perhaps her screams throughout the day of scared him or he just doesn't understand what's going on and he's just like why aren't what's kind of more alert like let's go home yeah either way she notices a change in his behaviour and like he can he can really tell something's off now yeah yeah but it means that she doesn't have the warmth of him cuddling her um she keeps up her crunches yeah sit-ups once again um she keeps up the little tapping on the rocks as well she said like this night she got the sleep monsters where like just really wanted to just go to sleep um give up yeah but she kind of had a voice urging her to keep tapping and so she did and after the incident she said she didn't know

what that was um she isn't particularly religious but she says as far as i'm concerned i'm going to be the best person i can and i'm okay without an answer yeah um and thanks to her physical fitness and pure willpower she survives another night when others wouldn't survive even one yeah i mean just staying awake that long yeah is so hard yeah let alone internally bleeding your pelvis is shattered it's been two days and two nights now and you're freezing cold and you're freezing cold um she won't survive another though oh okay do you know like she survived two nights yeah third it's friday now it's not looking good it's friday now dorothy's seen that she's out she's had a nose around the house she's rifled through the cupboards she's taken what she wants yeah and then she's called

the police she's seen it like what streaming channels they've got yeah yeah yeah um so So, day three, as we know, I mean, Dorothy hasn't discovered it yet. Actually, maybe she has, but they haven't called the search yet. Oh, this, okay. That wasn't until one o'clock. Yeah, Dorothy's still in the house. So Dorothy's just kind of like, something's off at the moment. Yeah.

What's in the top drawer? Oh, her kitchen's at the front of the house. It's strange. Looking right through that bedside cabinet. I love finding out other people's layout. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. You're like, you have a bedroom downstairs.

That's so weird. Yeah. Like as soon as your neighbor's house goes up for sale, I'm there. Straight on. I'm looking inside. Straight on right move. Yeah. So, basically, knowing she's not going to survive another night, she has no choice but

try to move again. Even though it's the worst pain she's ever experienced in her whole life. There's no adrenaline. There's no ibuprofen. She's like, what, I think the situation is coming to her that she's in the middle of nowhere. No one knows where she is. she's going to die yeah um so at first light she tries to move again and with the most terrible pain she'd ever experienced she rolled over face down and once again started to drag herself uh she tried

to get up over a ledge so she tried to go up yeah um but couldn't make it so then she tried a lower route but only made it three inches oh god before she ended up stuck in just like a dent in the rock like it wasn't even a hole it was just like the rocks going just slightly different directions and she can't get out of that. She also knows she can't drop herself down because she'd just hurt herself more and then she wouldn't be able to drag herself out

the canyon before she died because at this rate it was going to take several days of dragging. Yeah, yeah. And so for the next three hours she drags herself back to the little hole with water in. Oh my God, going backwards. Yeah, because she's going back to the water. Oh!

Like, she's like, I'm not going to make it out. I can't drag myself out. You just know you're going to die then, don't you? Basically, at this point. I can't believe she could be asked to drag herself back to the puddle. Yeah. Like, fair play. Yeah.

Because I'd just be like, well, clearly I die here then. If I can't, if I, I'm not going to drag anywhere. I mean, to be fair, I wouldn't have made it to the puddle in the first place. I feel like, I die now. I would have died. I die here. I die here, right here. hyperventilating and losing vision she lies back on the rock and cries yeah beginning to lose hope

she she kind of starts to accept her fate now she hasn't peed in two days but she can no longer hold it and it drains out onto her clothes her body's shutting down and she knows that the chill's going to get her soon um she's accepted she can't get out of the canyon on her own right someone's gonna have to come find her yeah so in like a last ditch attempt she says to Taz go get help I mean maybe don't wait till day three to to to ask Taz well yeah well I think she says but I guess like dogs aren't trained in go get help like they're trained in sit I think you'd give it a go though early doors, I would have given that a go.

Well, when he was playing with a stick, I probably would have been like, hey, Taz, put the stick down and fucking go and get some help. Hey, that is, that's alleged. The stick is a legend. It was only one article. But, yeah, I guess she's an endurance lady, though.

And, like, first day, she thought she could drag herself out because she was on an adrenaline. Yeah. And I think, I think until now, she kind of, she said in the documentary, I should have realized earlier, kind of the situation I was in.

Yeah. Like she was like, I should have realized earlier, like, I'm in the middle of no way, it's fucking freezing. To be fair, though, I felt like with a lot of these stories, you need some denial, like, in order to get you through. Because if you, like, with Ricky McGee, if he hadn't have thought, I'm going to get saved today, today's day I'm going to get saved. Like, you would have, you would give up and you would die so much sooner. So maybe you do have to think that you can do it yourself and you can get through it. I think she thought she could. I think she thought she'd be able to drag herself to the.

truck or someone would find her right and it's kind of not until now that she's like no one runs in December I'm this is yeah there's no one here this is yeah so she says she says she says she says he's just a dog um but I was desperate for help and would try anything I could and she said that she does like she did tend to talk to Taz like a human who doesn't exactly actually I don't talk to any humans like hi oh my god yeah god that really spiked in my uh If Loudrop was here, he'd be loving it. Oh my God. Basically, she knows by sending Taz away, she's like, go.

Yeah. She knows that she could also, this could mean that she has to die on her own because she's sent the dog away. Yeah, yeah. But he does, he turns, he leaves. He was like, Roger that, I'm off. She yells out, someone please notice I'm missing. Please help.

She'd actually met a nice guy just the week before she'd left for my wab. and she was excited to see him again. The hope of that kind of special relationship was gone. She thought of all the things she'd done and had yet to do, all the small things she'd never enjoy again, and depression hit her hard. The warmth of the sun was a welcome relief from the cold, but she'd been awake now for over 60 hours,

and the fatigue is overwhelming. She takes some deep breath, and she thinks about falling asleep so she can die before the cold of the third night, which would make for a more painful death. so for the next two hours she kind of lies preparing for death she hears the sound which gives her a hint of hope that it might be a helicopter but the sound left no helicopter she thought about how two days ago she had told her friend that she'd call him back after her run so she had told someone she was going on a run just not where she thought about her house with blinds left open the lights still on her computer on on the table. Her screen door propped open

so Taz could use the doggie door. That's why that was open. Ah. And she hoped her neighbor Dorothy would notice. She's like, if anybody's going to notice. She hadn't come home. It's going to be Dorothy. Her truck was left parked

and her phone's message machine would have been full, which it never was. And so surely someone would notice. And as we know, Dorothy had. Yeah. Her car had been found. The rescue team has now assembled.

Great. So they're assembling equipment for the search and going over their plan of action when they see a dog. It's Taz. As we know, up until now, Tau has been, Taz has been running up and down the canyon. Checking on Darnal every so often. And every time Taz disappeared, what he was doing was running back the five miles to the trailhead they'd started at looking for help.

Oh, clever boy. And then coming back to check on her. and he'd continuously done this for three days despite himself not having eaten. Having no food, yeah. God, dogs are amazing. Amazing. So thinking this might be Denault's dog,

the rescue team are a bit worried because they think a dog would never leave their master if they still had a pulse. Like the guy was like, I have a dog and like, if I was still alive, the dog would stay with me. Right. So they're a bit worried that they're seeing the dog and know Dinell.

They want to identify him, make sure it is Denaal's dog. but he runs in circles and doesn't allow any of them to catch him. They find this... Yeah, because he's like, come on, guys! But they find this really strange because he doesn't want anything to do with them, and they're like, why isn't he coming up to someone being like food? Give me food, right?

Yeah. Because he's got a job to do. Well, exactly. So they send a few... They're like, they can't ditch their already existing plan because of protocol. Like, they do have to stick to the search plan. But they send a few people kind of up the trail Tazas has come from just in case. They're like, you go have a look up there and we'll keep going with what we're doing.

Yeah. But once Taz knows he kind of has enough of their attention, he suddenly then darts back up the path towards the canyons, almost like he knew he'd attract enough attention, said one of the rescuers. It was like, he was just like running about. Yeah. One article said he'd started running towards town. Like, he needed to pick up a few bits, I don't know.

Yeah. The rescues are like, so they thought that was strange that he was going away. But then, like, as soon as he kind of had worked out, everyone was on him and following him, he was like, cool, and then darted in the other direction. But basically, he runs off so quickly. They can't keep up. But they know he's going to pass the search team. They've sent ahead.

Yes. And they were all on terrain vehicles. Yeah. Also known as an ATV. That's what I'm going to call him from now on. Okay. And so they quickly radio them to, like, follow that dog. Taz quickly passes the ATV of Bego Gayhart,

an Eagle Scout and Frequent Rescue Volunteer. Thank you for asking. An Eagle Scout is the highest achievement of rank, sorry, highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Boy Scouts of America since it's inception in 1911. And only 4% of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process

because most people quit Scouts after the age of 14. I was going to say, I didn't know. They let 13-year-old boys drive ATVs, but that's good. No, adult man. Oh, okay. Well, that's who you want saving you. Oh, yeah, preferably. Definitely.

Yeah. So Bego is an absolute hero. Yeah. So he got sent earlier, and he knows how to find tracks. Of course he does. He's got the badge. He knows. He's fucking ultra-scow.

Yeah. And he finds dog prints. Yeah. That are like two days old. and he also finds some human prints And he can diagnose how old they are Well as in like I think like in the sand You can tell how fresh they are

Right And he finds some human prints that could be Donal Yeah Taz runs past Bego And then like disappears And the terrain starts to get much more treacherous So Bego has to slow

Even at risk of losing the dog But he's like I am going to try and keep following Yeah you can't have two I have a vibe about this dog, but I need to slow down. So, back to Donnell. It's afternoon now, and Taz returns from his longest journey yet. Wagging his tail, his demeanour has suddenly completely changed. It actually makes her really sad because she sees this really happy dog that she loves having a great time.

And she's like, I'm, I'm about to die. Well, more just like, I'm not, read the room, Tass. Read the canyon. Yeah. But she's like, this is, I'm not going to see him again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm losing this dog and I love him so much. He also runs straight to the little puddle and begins drinking rapidly suddenly.

He's suddenly like, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, lap, black, black, black, big drink. So he's like, he's like, big drink. And she's like, Taz, like, that's kind of my only source of water. Like, can you find another puddle? Yeah. You can run all over this place. Yeah. I've just got this one puddle.

Yeah, she's like, can you just leave this one, please? but she kind of doesn't say anything she just pats him and you know she's given up I'm going to give you a little just history of her and Taz despite never having had time for a dog before with all her very adventurous commitments

Danelle had always really yearned for canine companionship and kept her ear close to the ground for like a good candidate and in 2003 in the middle of a busy summer she drove two hours to a rescue facility north of Denver and said it was love at first sight she said she picked him out because he was

was really energetic and that's like perfect yeah um and like she said that she kind of like loved him and then another lady was like petting him and she was like bitch that's my dog even though she hadn't adopted yet she was like that's my dog that you're wearing with and so then when the lady left she like grabbed it and was like this this dog now um and yeah it was love of her sight when she laid eyes on a 10 week old mutt part of a litter that had been rescued from a Kansas farm. During their first year together, she took Taz on long walks and trips to the lake. As he got bigger, they started running and hiking together, eventually covering as much as 15 miles at a time, and occasionally hiking to the summit of one of Colorado's 14,000 foot

mountains. He had brought her so much joy in laughter since rescuing him, since rescuing him three years before, and that was about to end. She thought she would die and never see him again. But then she heard an aeroplane. So she raises her arms just in case, by chance. Yeah. That's whoever it is might see her. The airplane circled and then returned, this time lower, and then circled again. And then she heard the sound of an engine, an ATV engine.

Yes. The sound got closer and closer. It's the Boy Scouts of America. It's the Eagle Scout. Stainty didn't fly in, to be honest. This like reawakened her body Suddenly hope is back She's fully alert again

The engine stops though And she's like what And if you go back to Bego's point of view He's driving down This like treacherous path And he hears a shout Because she's shouted out So he stops and gets off

Basically she just starts like begging She's like whoever you are Please help Like I need help And then she hears From the base of the rock ledge I'm here for you. Oh, what a relief.

So Bego found her at 3.38pm. So this says 52 hours after her fall. Yeah, that would make sense. Alive and on her back with Taz's snout on her chest. She said, I'm so glad to see you as she wept. And he said, I'm so glad to see you too. Not Taz, Bego. Yeah.

And Taz suddenly spoke. Yeah. The hallucinations got real. Oh, my God. considering her injuries he couldn't believe that she was still conscious Taz wagged his tail and sounded a whimpering cry of joy

as he licked Bego's hand Oh, he's so thank you! And Bego quickly wrapped Denault in a warm sleeping bag putting her hands in heavy gloves and radioing the team. 45 minutes later, just before dark, a helicopter arrived. Due to the weather and rapidly fading light,

so we're going into night again. The chopper had a very narrow window of time before it would be impossible to rescue her. her via airlift and a snowstorm was predicted what's the word like forecast forecast um but they find a landing spot and danelle's given a second chance at life she was taken to st mary's hospital and then flown from there to denver health uh like said during a brewing snowstorm so terrible turbulence but danelle had drugs finally she's got more than ibuprofen so it's fine

She was like having three glasses of wine. She was like, take another last round. She was like, woo! Go again! She later, I'm skipping ahead, but she later gives birth to both her sons in that first hospital she was taken to. No painkillers.

And despite being induced, she was able to have both of them naturally despite her injuries. Though, this is going to be gross, her second son got stuck. on her tailbone which was sitting a little differently

because of the accident and they had to shove the tailbone out of the way I don't like any part of that no nothing they thought they'd broken her tailbone but it was okay not again

don't break it again she didn't actually break her tailbone she broke her sickerum was that I think just above the tailbone right and before she had those children she married their father

and can you get to see that was Was it the guy that she just met just before she went for the run and she had a good feeling about? It was the very man. She'd been on a date with just before her accident. Wow. But let's back to her initial recovery. She'd lost nine kilograms of her body weight and a third of her blood volume. Nine kilos?

She was told that most people would have died in the first 24 hours with the injuries and blood loss she'd sustained. Yeah, hi, that would be me. Yeah. Straight away. Yep. they do like emergency trauma surgery on the internal bleeding and then she has a six-hour surgery in which doctors reconstructed her pelvis with a titanium plate and a screw in the left side of her pelvis when they first reveal her feet they're all black yeah with frostbite but over a few days the

colour returns she keeps her feet wow that's so lucky um now while she's taken to hospital Taz can't go to hospital. Taz has taken home with the officer that was in charge of the rescue because he doesn't think it's fair for Taz to have to go to an animal shelter after his heroic effort. Agree, yeah.

And Word obviously began to get out about Dinell's amazing survival. But she wasn't keen to do the press tour at first. She wasn't a press tour. But Taz was like, come on, we can make some big bucks here. Well, it wasn't until the popular morning show

the Today show said they wanted to interview her with Taz and Dinell hadn't seen Taz since she was airlifted out of the canyon several days before so then quickly agrees. Oh so they're interviewing her from hospital? Yeah, she's still in the hospital

and she hasn't seen her dog and they're like, we want to do an interviewer we'll bring Taz in. So the only way she gets to see her dog as if there's a film crew there. Basically. So she does an interview with the Today Show in the hospital lobby

and then at the end of the interview she's reunited with Taz. Oh my God, I bet that's amazing footage. And it makes for a very emotional scene. and then after the filming, apparently, I never trust anything that's only been in one article, but I fucking love this and I want this to be true. Taz went home with Dinell's sister,

but he escaped that night and went back to the hospital. Of course he did. Oh, I love this dog. Okay. What a good boy. Her hospital stay lasted 15 days. She was then in a wheelchair for three months. They were kind of like not sure if she'd be in a wheelchair forever. She had nightmares at first,

but now just describes them as dreams every now and then. She doesn't have PTSD, but she does have like dreams where she'll kind of like nearly fall or whatever, but now she can wake up with the perspective knowing that everything's fine now. She gradually went around with a walker, then crutches, then a cane, and then five months after her accident, she took part in an adventure race.

She had to walk, but apparently she still won it. What fuck? I don't know. um cards and gifts what the hell that how is that possible i don't know i guess like an adventure race is it about speed is it like torts like the hunger games everybody else dies off she's the last one standing everyone else pulls into a canyon and doesn't make it 24 hours i've made this mistake before yeah maybe she didn't win it but that's what it said i i'm choosing to believe she did i'm choosing to believe she did um cards and gifs pour in for taz of course and every now and then for denial as well yeah

mostly chas a few days after the today's got an agent now he's doing like what's it called motivational talks around the country he's going to play toto in the local production of Wizard of Oz yeah um he's in Panto for sure a few days after her today's show interview so in her today's show interview oh I missed that sorry

but um they ask oh I can't remember they kind of like ask like oh like he's owed a bone yeah and she's like he's not getting a bone he's getting like five steaks like he or something yeah he's getting the whole cow yeah and then um a few days after that interview a large box arrived from michigan and when denel opened the box she found a christmas stocking with taz's name embroidered on it with a stuffed santa inside and underneath that dry ice and five pounds of hormone-free edged rib steaks fucking ow he's eating like a

But Dorothy's like, where's my fucking steak? Yes, the dog's there, sure, but the fucking rescue crew wouldn't be there without me and my snooping. You're just not as adorable, Dorothy, I'm sorry. Tad is just so much cuter. He also won a number of awards, including an award for his valour from the National Society for the Ethical Treatment of Pets,

the RISPCA National Hero Dog Award, the National Hero Dog Award from the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles, and the Oprah Winfrey show and now Julia Stenton named Taz a real life Lassie. Yeah. You were way ahead, way ahead.

Dinell's survival was reenacted on the show I Shouldn't Be Alive on Netflix and she received multiple emails from around the world. She said some details were off. She was like, that woman was lifting her door so far higher than I was able to. Yeah. And she said it made her a little bit annoyed,

but in all, they did a good job telling the story and she found it interesting that it impacted so many people. Coach Nelly, as Donnell is known in the world of adventure events. She used to organise endurance events galore before her own personal endurance trial but now just runs the Moab Trail Marathon whilst also running Utah's oldest restaurant with her husband. So she returns to the trail where the accident happened

when organizing the marathon because it's in the same area and it goes right by the spot she has anxiety approaching it but says once she's there now she's not nervous anymore the first four years she'd go back and be super scared approaching it but now feels more

emotions of sadness like wow this is what happened in this spot Taz also went back to the area but just wasn't really that bothered until apparently she lay down in the spot to like And then he was like, what are you doing?

Not again. Don't do this to me again. Oh, Taz's got PTSD. Yeah. She admits she still thinks about it and doesn't run like she used to. And the cold weather does bring back bad memories. But although she's a little slower now, she still continues to hike, run and cycle outdoors

and often takes her sons out hiking with her. Now though, she always lets people know where she's going. She takes extra belongings, including her phone, I hope. and she doesn't go out for as far or as long. She lived with Taz and then an extra edition of her husband's dog boo for 13 years until Taz sadly died in the spring of 2019

after a very long and happy life. So, Dinell had rescued him as a puppy and he had in turn returned to the favour. I'm going to cry. What a happy ending. He is sorely missed and that is the story of Dinell Balangie and Taz

the Wonder Dog. Wow. I actually have tears in my eyes. That's amazing. What an incredible story. What a story. I guess we can't put... And what a dog. We can't put living things in the survival toolkit, can we? So I guess... Dog whistle, just see if any dogs are about.

I guess the shower cap. It's got to be the shower cap. The shower cap was quite good. Because she did actually have it. Or like, you can't put a sit-up in either. Or would be a set-up, like maybe just one of those little things then you can't be bothered you so you put on your abs and it goes... I feel like that really would have done some damage with the internal bleeding. A vibrating pouch on your stomach. Or, you know, bum bag, stir, it's an option.

Iberoprofen. I couldn't say it then. Iberoprofen. Yeah. I don't think that ibuprofen did much, I'll be honest. No. having her water bottle was good quite a lot of things

got her through this one I think shower cap is most fun and unique it is unique to this we've got water but it was so tas why can't leave a taz in it I know

okay can we find a dog themed shower cap perfect absolutely perfect that's going in the perfect item the perfect story Are you ready for a listener story? Can it beat that? I mean, it is dog themed. Is it?

Yeah, I have found one that is dog themed episode. This is a full dog themed episode? Yes. I'm freaking chuffed. If you have a worst case scenario, if there's dogs in it, even better. Yeah. But we'll take anything at this point. You can send them into...

At this early stage of the podcast, we'll take anything. We will take anything. Literally anything, anything you've survived. Send them to help at wcspod.com. Okay. Hi, Julian Abbey. Love the podcast. Also, please send you how much you love the podcast.

So imagine if they're like, hi, do you and Abby, hate the podcast? But I really want to send you the story. But like I love me and my stories. Yeah, enjoy the story. A more lighthearted survival story. As a child, I lived in Texas. I was 12 and took my small dog for a wall. around the block what kind of dog give me the breed i know i don't i don't have it i'm afraid please

send picks sophie please tell us what the dog was um i was attempting to do a cheerleading routine whilst walking him what i mean it's unorthodox but you walk him how you like okay and he decided to chase a car i went flying as he pulled have you seen those videos of people you're like you know those ring door or door like doorbell cameras yeah i seem to get my tictor is flooded with pictures of videos of people who are about to take their dog for a walk so they're just locking their door and

they're holding the lead with the other hand and then the dog sees something and then all of a sudden they're just like pulled out of shot it's so funny so that's why I'm imagining has happened here there hours of fun so he's off chasing a car

I went flying as he pulled landed so hard I couldn't get up and some older kids had to run down the road after my dog. The dog's gone. The dog's funny. This is not a Taz. This dog is not concerned.

I was so embarrassed, but they helped me up and took us both home. I was so bruised. Wait, where is she? Oh, she's around the box. She's walking the dog around the block. I was still in doorbell land. She's not by her house.

No, yeah, she's around. So I was so bruised, but had no visible marks. The next day, my PE teacher, insisted I play American football. I cried, lifting my arm above my head to throw the ball. and only then did she decide I should sit this one out.

And that's from Sophie. Thank you, Sophie. What's the dog? Yeah, please send this. How is this dog strong enough to pull her over? Oh, they always are. What, even a chihuahua? If you're not, well, maybe not a chihuahua.

But she said small dog. She did say small dog. The size of the dog is actually quite important tonight. But if you're doing a cheerleading routine, I feel like probably... Which I am always. If you're halfway through a handstand, I don't think it would take much to, like, pull you off balance.

I think a small dog will do it. So the dog just went running down the street? Yeah. And she was on the floor. The dog was chasing a car and it pulled her over. The jolt pulled her over. She was too busy doing her five, six, seven, eight. Yeah.

I had to protect myself from a dog. Is this going to be another thing that we have to cut? I don't know. Because we are so running out of time. I don't think so. Okay. Because this wasn't, I wasn't at fault. Okay.

So we were borrowing another dog. Yeah. And this dog, lovely dog, brilliant dog. Just all round, good natured, good, big, substantial dog. And we were walking down the street, and these tiny dogs appeared with some real, I guess, size issues with this dog. And the dog we were walking was just like, what the hell's going on? Like, what's your problem? And these little dogs went like mental at it.

Luckily, one was on a lead, so it couldn't go anywhere, but it was like really going at it. This other one came running after and was it getting up all in him, like trying to go at him. Yeah. To the point where I had to like, look, I don't want to say on a podcast I kicked a dog.

I didn't kick a dog. But I had to like put my foot in and like push the dog away from us. Sounds like you kicked a dog. Sounds very much like you kicked a dog. I kept contact though. I kept and it was a side of a foot. Fuck.

And then I had to like pick this dog up. And like, the lady was like, oh, just like grab him. I was like, this shouldn't. I was like, if you can't control your dog. About her dog. Her dog. How about you come and grab him?

Right? But she was holding the even more aggressive one. Oh, she had two. I was like, what? Your dog shouldn't be off lead if you can't control your dog. And like we were so lucky that our dog, because like it's not our dog. We don't fully know how it's going to react. But luckily he was really chill and good, but was scared.

I'm freaking out. So I had to push the dog, pick it up, take it back to her. Yeah. Be like. Here's your dog. Yeah. I don't know. I'm quite like judgey of people who can't.

look after their dog's right so you know I'd give it back like sort your fucking dog out yeah and then take it out of the dog no not the dog but then I didn't say anything but you know I had an attitude yeah and then walked off and a half and then we get like three doors down another tiny little dog like I don't know what it was about this street where we had a lot of small men dog issues oh dear and uh you're walking down fancy streets you want to go I think that's the thing rougher streets bigger dogs yeah yeah yeah but then nice big dogs. Yeah.

But it was great. It was just mad. They're like three dogs all in a row. Mm. Yeah, anyway. Mad. If you have a survivor story, if you've kicked a dog.

We don't want to hear from you. I don't want to hear from you. Abby might. I can sympathize. I am a dog lover. It was very gentle. Yeah. But I had to protect the other dog.

Anyway, if you have a survival story, send them to us at WCSPod No Help At WCSpod.com Hope you survive another week Lateas Thanks bitch

Bye Get attacked by an angry shock Stuck up a mountain in the dark Pushed up the top of a big landmark Hit by lightning in your local park Caught in the downpour of acid rain Struck by meteor or a train A proton beam passes through your brain

by that angry shark again Hear how they survive Trappled by a herd of buffalo chased with an axe by your new friend Joe buried alive in a pile of snow The worst case scenario