Orca

Cardiff, Wales — 5 April 2006. A late frost turned the fields white, and the river ran high. Orca’s owner lost her footing on the embankment and fell through reeds into the current. He leapt in after her, teeth catching the hood of her coat, dragging until the weight turned both still.
When rescuers arrived, he was half-underwater, still holding on. They carried them out together.
Weeks later, she fastened the PDSA Gold Medal around his neck. He licked the river smell from it, then slept.