The Orkney Image Library
Help us get organised! If we haven't correctly identified which area this picture is best listed under, please select it below and click Done!
Ghillie, a two-year-old Springer Spaniel from Kirkwall, received the prestigious PDSA Gold Medal - the animals’ George Cross - for gallantry and life-saving devotion at a special presentation in the Orkney Hotel today (20 December). He is pictured here with his owner, Alan.
On 19 December 2005, Ghillie was out walking with his owner’s elderly mother, Mary Wilson, when she collapsed on the bridle path on Holm Road just outside Kirkwall. Ghillie’s constant barking attracted the attention of a group of Hydro workers inspecting poles nearby. The dog’s insistence that they follow him back along the path to where Mary lay unconscious saved her life.
Mary, from Fair Isle, was staying with her son, Alan Wilson, a Kirkwall vet and Ghillie’s owner, when the incident happened. Because the location was difficult to access, Mary was carried down the bridle path in the Hydro workers’ tractor to a waiting ambulance which took her to Balfour Hospital, where she spent the night. Happily, Mary made a complete recovery, but without Ghillie’s determination and devotion, the outcome could have been very different.
Marilyn Rydström, Director General of PDSA says: “It is an honour to announce the award of the PDSA Gold Medal to Ghillie, an exceptional dog, who was only nine-months-old at the time. His devotion and persistence that fateful December day undoubtedly saved Mary’s life. This is an extraordinary story of that unique and inexplicable bond between people and pets.”
Ghillie was presented with his PDSA Gold Medal by PDSA Deputy Chairman, Chris Heaps, with his owner Alan and the team of Hydro workers who came to Mary’s assistance present, along with family members.
View Large VersionPicture added on 20 December 2007
Thats a really nice picture of Ghillie - what an intelligent looking dog.
Added by Rae Slater on 21 December 2007
This is surely one of the most attractive pictures on OIL. I agree with Rae Slater, intelligence just seems to be shining out of the dog's eyes. But, equating the PDSA Gold Medal with the George Cross is surely over-egging it a bit. The George Cross isn't awarded for devotion, persistence, or intelligence; it's for 'acts of the greatest heroism or the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. No doubt Ghillie would perform well in such circumstances but they surely didn't apply in this instance, unless Hydro pole inspectors habitually react violently to the presence of dogs. Mary Wilson may have been in danger but Ghillie wasn't. An MBE might be a more accurate equivalent.
<< back
Added by Ian Hourston on 25 January 2013
Kirkwall
