Ah here, our feels are in bits after hearing this.
One family in the town of San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche in Italy are particularly grateful to a hero dog who saved their young child from drowning in the ocean. The incident took place last Sunday on the beach when Barillo, who was there with his owners Claudio Coppola and his wife, noticed the young boy in difficulty.
His barks failed to attract the attention of his owner at first, so Barillo headed into the water, swimming towards the child to save him, which caused others to take notice. Another man also jumped in and swam towards the boy, with man and dog then turning to return to shore once they had him safely in tow.
However, and this is the bit where you might want to reach for the tissues, Barillo never made it back to shore, and he drowned after swallowing too much water. The couple whose son he had saved offered to give the owners a reward, but they instead insisted that they cover the cost of his cremation for the dog, who died a hero.
Via easybranches.eu and La Stampa
