We often have to report quite grisly tasks that the Isle of Wight Coastguard have been called on to perform.
Happily the ‘Shout’ they were called to on Christmas Eve turned out to be a happy and life-affirming incident, with those involved enjoying two large dollops of good luck.
Staffy in hot pursuit
The story starts with a resident walking her Staffordshire Bull Terrier along the very top of Niton Undercliff when something caught the attention of the Staffy and it took off in hot pursuit.
Little did the Staffy know that it was near the edge of the cliff and the poor thing ran clean off the side.
Now this is serious. The drop there can be 120 feet. Straight down.
Fortunate timing
Understandably the Staffy’s owner was in a state of shock and great upset, so then comes the first happy coincidence – a mother and daughter, who were out for a run, happened to pass by.
They broke off from their run, stopped to try and comfort the woman, offering to take her home and call the Coastguard.
A happy ending
It was with some trepidation that members of the Ventnor Coastguard received the Pager message, alerting them to an incident.
Happily, and to everyone’s relief, the dog was found safe and well at the bottom of the drop.
It looks like a 70ft tall tree broke its fall, saving it from almost certain death, with it tumbling through the branches another 30ft to the ground.
Owner and dog were soon reunited.
Image: © Google Streetview
