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'The life jacket saved his life:' Golden retriever reunited with family after going missing in boat accident
Kim and Jeff Wiseman of Charleston, South Carolina, share how Rocky, their golden retriever puppy, was lost in a boating accident and was finally found days later thanks to his life vest and social media support.
null - Rocky the golden retriever has been reunited with his family after going missing for two days following a boating accident in Charleston.
Rocky's parents, Jeff and Kim Wiseman, are thanking their community on social media, his doggy life jacket, and the Charleston Animal Society for his safe return home.
On the night of June 23, Jeff went out with Rocky on their boat to cruise the Ashley River. Rocky was wearing his special dog life jacket for the boat, which the Wisemans say "he likes."
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FILE - Rocky, a golden retriever in Charleston, was lost for two days after a boating accident before being discovered in a local backyard thanks to social media posts and his life jacket. (Kim Wiseman via Facebook)
Jeff recounted the evening in an interview with Fox News Digital, "We ran down the river, jump in the water, and swim around a little bit."
"And then on the way back, I was taking pictures of him with my phone and just drifted further right than I realized — it was careless — and hit a concrete structure like this old pier that is just down the river… I went into the water, pretty sure Rocky was in the water, too. By the time I got back in the boat, he wasn't there."
"He was nowhere to be seen, and I broke seven ribs and, you know, lots of other injuries, but they said seven ribs. When E.M.S. showed up, they kinda forced me to go to the hospital."
Once Jeff was taken to the hospital, Kim says that emergency responders searched for Rocky but had to call off for the night around 8:30. Kim said "at that point, that's when I went on Facebook, just my own personal Facebook page, and asked friends to be on the lookout for Rocky."
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Kim added, "by the next morning when I went back up to the site, there were already people in the water looking for Rocky… I could never have imagined when I just posted an hour after the accident that the community response would be what it became."
After two nights of searching, many had given up hope. The Wisemans, however, held onto hope that Rocky would be found thanks to his life jacket. Kim shared, "we really think it did save his life."
FILE - Rocky, a golden retriever in Charleston, was lost for two days after a boating accident before being discovered in a local backyard thanks to social media posts and his life jacket. (Kim Wiseman via Facebook)
After finding himself miles away from the original boat accident site, Rocky was finally discovered thanks to his social media celebrity in the backyard of a family on the morning of June 25.
Kim recounted their reunion, saying, "It felt like a miracle, honestly, because two nights had passed with him missing and we didn't know if he was injured in the crash. Jeff obviously was, so to find out … that not only had he survived the crash and the days swimming in the river, and the two nights — one of which is storming — just, it felt like a miracle."
FILE - Rocky, a golden retriever in Charleston, was lost for two days after a boating accident before being discovered in a local backyard thanks to social media posts and his life jacket. (Kim Wiseman via Facebook)
"We were overjoyed. We were, just incredibly overjoyed and so, so grateful to everyone who helped search for him and helped spread the word," Kim added.
Keeping pets safe over the summer is no easy feat. The Charleston Animal Society urges all boaters to purchase a life vest for pets. In an interview with Fox News Digital, the Charleston Animal Society said, "If you go in a boat, your children are going to have life vests on. Your dogs should have life vests on as well."
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In the meantime while Rocky recovers, his family says, "He's getting back to his old self… He's a just a fun-loving, happy little dog. He just loves everybody."