How man’s best friend saved his owner’s life after pensioner collapsed on beach

A dog owner who collapsed on a beach in Dorset was rescued by his faithful pet.

David Howarth collapsed while walking on the empty Sandbanks beach in Poole after enjoying a dip in the sea.

Luckily, his faithful Labrador Beau was with him when the incident occurred and the dog began jumping up and down on Mr Howarth, running on the sand and barking to attract attention.

A passerby noticed the dog’s unusual behavior and stopped to help, saving the 71-year-old’s life.

Claire Dashwood was walking with her partner when she spotted five-year-old Beau next to Mr Howarth. He immediately ran to help.

He and his partner, Paul Harrold, rolled Mr Howarth, who stopped breathing, onto his back and began CPR, guided by a paramedic over the phone.

Two attending doctors, Rachel Hall and Chris Hovell, who were walking at the prom, noticed the developing situation and took turns to apply compressions along with Ms Dashwood, 65.

When paramedics arrived, Mr Howarth was shocked with a defibrillator three times before he started showing signs of life.

David Howarth fainted after diving into the sea at the empty Sandbanks beach in Poole and got a tattoo of a paw over his pacemaker.

Beau jumped on Mr Howarth, ran across the sand and barked to attract attention when his owner collapsed.

He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors placed a defibrillator near his heart.

He was discharged a week later and made a full recovery.

Speaking about the incident, Mr Howarth said: ‘I feel like I owe my life to Beau. I feel like I won the lottery. I have this feeling of happiness.

‘I feel extremely cheerful, upbeat, optimistic and incredibly grateful to Beau and the people who went out of their way to save me.

‘I call them my angels. Every day I feel like the bubble is about to burst, but a year has passed and it hasn’t.

‘I’m so happy to be alive, to be here, to have another chance.’

Ms Dashwood said at first she thought Beau was playing on the beach but when she saw Mr Howarth on his back she knew something was wrong.

‘“He was dead, bruised and freezing cold,” he said. I checked his pulse and airways, but there was nothing.

‘I knew that many people around us were saying ‘he is dead, he is gone’, but I blocked them all and continued on my way.

‘The dog could have growled or attacked me but it kept licking me. He knew I was helping David.

‘Beau is my little hero. ‘He licks my face every time I see him – and I would never let a dog lick my face!’

Claire Dashwood was walking with her partner when she saw Beau next to Mr Howarth.

Walking through the ball, two on-duty doctors, Rachel Hall and Chris Hovell, noticed the unfolding scene and came to help.

Mr Howarth was taken to hospital where doctors implanted a defibrillator near his heart.

Ms Hall, one of the doctors who stopped to help, added that she was “genuinely stunned by the outcome”.because when we saw David on the beach he was completely gone.’

Sam Kennard, community defibrillator manager at the British Heart Foundation, said the story was a stark reminder of ‘how important it is to act quickly in an emergency’.

‘Lives were saved because someone recognized the signs of a heart attack and immediately started CPR,’ they said.

‘Heart attack can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.’