Neighbours reported odd noises coming from a derelict house, and when the police arrived, they found something horrific inside.
A frantic call came through to the local police station. A mans voice, shaky and urgent, claimed strange sounds were coming from the house next door. He wasnt sure what was happening but insisted officers come immediately.
A team of officers was dispatched, along with a police doga sharp-eyed German Shepherd. They scoured the area, knocking on doors and questioning residents. Most hadnt heard a thing, save for an elderly chap who mentioned hearing a faint groan the night before, though hed chalked it up to a neighbours telly.
The officers approached the suspicious property. It looked abandonedpeeling paint, a lopsided fence, windows caked in grime. But stepping inside, things got stranger. The floorboards in the main room were splintered, a gaping crack running through the centre, plunging into darkness. The air was thick with dust, and the whole place felt seconds away from collapsing further.
The dog froze. Then it barked sharply, pawing at the floor near the hole, refusing to look away. This wasnt normalthe Shepherd had clearly caught a scent. The officers exchanged glances. One pulled out his torch and edged closer, shining the beam downward. What it revealed shocked them all.
At first, there was nothing but rubble and dirt. Then the light caught something dreadfula person.
He lay motionless, buried under debris, barely visible beneath layers of filth. Unconscious, his face half-hidden.
Later, they learned he was the homeowner. Days before, a minor tremor had rattled the neighbourhood, and the weak foundations of his crumbling house had given way.
A section of the floor had caved in, sending him tumbling, his head striking the ground hard. Hed been trapped for days, unable to move or cry for help.
If not for that neighbours calland the dogs sharp instinctshe might not have made it.
The man was rushed to hospital. And as the officers put it, that Shepherd hadnt just saved a life that dayit had literally pulled a man back from the earth.
