The dog was dehydrated and her face and neck were covered in scratches, he said. Florian immediately realized that she was too weak to descend the steep Pu’u Manamana trail without assistance.
“She was on the most dangerous part of the trail, wedged between two cliffs, and it was almost sunset,” he said, adding that there were drops in all directions.
He called the dog and slowly approached her.
He knew he would have to carry her a half-mile up the most vertical part of the four-mile trail.
Florian gently picked up the dog — he estimated the dog weighed about 45 pounds — and began walking down the rocky trail as strong winds swirled around them.
“She was shaking and scared, and I could feel her warm little belly on my skin as I put my arm around her,” Florian said, remembering the day of February 28. “She seemed really tame and loving, but she was really weak, like she had been up there for a while.
Florian didn’t know at the time that the dog was named Stevie and that she had been missing for three days since she went chasing a wild pig. The feral hog population has exploded on Oahu in recent years.
A few hours before Florian’s hike, another hiker had come across the dog but was unable to get her down on his own, and he talked about it on the private Facebook page for the Oahu hiking community.
“People had already heard about the dog and were trying to find its owner, but I had no idea what was going on,” Florian said. “All I knew was that this poor girl needed help and it was up to me to bring her down.”
“Leaving her was not an option,” he said.
It took him about an hour to carefully descend the mountain while balancing the dog in his arms so it wouldn’t fall, he said, noting that there are steep cliffs on some parts of the mountain. two sides of the path.
“The lower part of the trail is more popular: many people go there to take photos of the spectacular view,” Florian said. “Not many people go higher because it’s quite dangerous. If you fall, you’re pretty much done.
“I have fear and respect for this place, but I feel comfortable here because I have been training here for so long,” he added. “I know where I put my feet when I go up and down.”
Florian said he works as a physiotherapist and helps people with spinal injuries learn to walk again.
“My arms are really strong because I lift people all day,” he said. “Not many people could have carried this dog, but I knew I could.”
He said he stopped several times on the way down to rest with the puppy and reassure her that she would be safe soon.
“I kept telling her, ‘It’s okay, girl, you’re doing great,’” Florian said. One of the videos he took during the ordeal shows him petting the dog while saying: “I don’t know who this girl belongs to, but we have to find out.” »
In the steepest part of the descent, he held on to the cliff with one hand and held the dog close to him with the other hand. as he lowered himself onto his buttocks, he said.
“I really had to balance myself and hold her above me,” he said. “I tried not to move too quickly so she wouldn’t panic.”
It was about 6 p.m. when he reached the bottom of the trail and took the dog home. His wife, Dayane Florian, had seen posts about Stevie on social media and she helped track down the owner, he said. Island News reported on the rescue.
“While we waited [the owner] to come, we gave Stevie a lot of water and food,” said Sergio Florian. “She’s such a good dog – I hated to see her go.”
The owner did not respond to an interview request from The Washington Post, but Florian said he thanked him for getting his dog back.
“I felt I developed a little bond with Stevie on the track and I would love to see her again,” he said.
That night after the rescue, Florian posted on Instagram that his arms were sore from carrying Stevie, but his heart was full. More than 24,000 people liked the post.
“I could not leave another living creature in such distress,” he wrote. “I love happy endings.”
