Touching Photo of Girl Finding Dog in Rubble of Oklahoma Tornado Goes Viral
It was a gut-wrenching reunion for College student Payton McClure and her Aussie-Corgi mix Jack. The two had been separated when McClure had gone away for the weekend and a tornado touched down in her hometown of Sulphur, Oklahoma. Understandably, the dog mom was terrified that Jack was lost forever, but thankfully that turned out not to be true.
In the mad dash to get to safety, McClure's grandparents left Jack behind to flee before the tornado hit.
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Jo and Larry Palmer, McClure's grandparents, were huddled in her parents' basement while the storm raged outside on April 27, weather.com. During the tornado, power lines were struck down, blocking their ability to return.
Related: News Crew Hailed Heroes After Rescuing a Trapped Dog After Texas Tornado
“We knew that their house was hit, their neighbor's house was hit, downtown was hit,” 20-year-old McClure told the news outlet. But it was nearly impossible to know Jack's status and if the Aussie and Corgi mix was safe. “So being three hours away, I'm just thinking where is my dog, is he OK?” she added.
The Palmers were also worried about their Golden Retriever, Ladybug. They had no idea if either dog survived. Thankfully, the next day family members were able to get back to the 44-year-old home. It was mostly destroyed, although there were a few walls that were still standing. When they entered the remains, they had at least a little bit of good news.
“They walked in the laundry room and they found Ladybug,” McClure said. “And she was wagging her tail like, just happy to be there."
But there was no sign of Jack at all.
“So I had looked through all of the rubble and stuff and I just kept yelling his name because normally when he hears my voice, he'll run to me,” McClure said. “And I just yelled and yelled and I kept looking, but it was just so overwhelming to see it … There's just piles and piles of debris. Trying to get in there is insane.”
It was McClure's stepdad who finally found the dog under some of the wreckage. Miraculously, the dog was completely fine aside from a small scratch on the chin. A photo of McClure clutching her baby after finding him was later shared by the news outlet on Instagram. The look on her face said it all.
“What he went through, I mean, it's like my baby,” she said. “So it's so hard to think about all that.”
But you wouldn't know that Jack had been through a natural disaster by the way he responded when he saw his mama.
“He was wagging his tail,” McClure said. “He doesn't act like he survived an F3 tornado, but here we are.”
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