On March 15th, I did a post about “Miracle on the Detroit River” which was the saga of a small dog who was chased by a coyote onto the frozen Detroit River during the brutally cold Polar Vortex. This post follows up on that tale, since so many of you were captivated by the misfortune, then good fortune, of the dog.
Alone, scared, hungry and cold, this pooch spent four days on the ice while most of the Downriver area of Southeast Michigan fretted and stewed. We all wished somebody … anybody … could come to its rescue.
The hero of the story was Canadian Jude Meade, who borrowed an airboat, made a daring rescue, endangering his own life by stepping onto the ice to retrieve the dog, then sped across the River to deposit the poor pooch into the arms of Patricia Trevino, Manager of the River Rouge Animal Shelter at the shoreline of Dingell Park.
Then the dog was whisked away …
… to a local vet where he was named “Miracle” and, after recovery from surgery and frostbite, he was placed with a foster family to await adoption.
A multitude of people, locally and across the nation, were eager to adopt Miracle, but he now has found a furever home with his rescuer, Jude Meade!
These photos are from the Friends of the River Rouge Animal Shelter’s Facebook site and capture the joyous reunion that took place yesterday. Because our international border crossing at Detroit/Windsor has been closed for a year due to COVID, an extra-special effort by River Rouge Police Chief/Fire Chief Roberto Cruz allowed this “handoff” to occur. I was the 500th person to comment and agree on the Facebook post that Miracle could not have been placed with a better person.
That bright-red hoodie with the Canada and U.S. flags on the back made this Canadian, who has lived in the States almost 55 years, grin ear to ear.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Perfect ending to the story!
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I thought so too! I’ve been checking out the various Facebook sites to see what they did as to the adoption and was as pleased as everyone else.
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What a lovely story!
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Glad you liked it Anne. I am glad that Jude was chosen out of all the people who clamored to adopt Miracle.
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Perfect ending to a very sweet story!
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I think both Miracle and Jude lucked out ultimately Mary. I think it had a perfect ending too!
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They really did!
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I love happy endings!
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Me too Sabine!
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Me too!
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What a lovely story! (Why seem Canadian guys alway so much cooler?)
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Glad you liked it Jeanine. Hmm – I know he was fearless in this case … big and brave, but also warm-hearted. It is touching seeing this big guy holding the little dog who is covered in snow and ice. It gives new meaning to the expression “cold hands, warm heart” doesn’t it?
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How appropriate – Saint Jude is known as the Patron Saint of desperate cases and lost causes. Thanks for the follow-up story.
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You’re welcome – I am glad I shared the story Ruth. I was happy to read about the eventual outcome and I didn’t know that St. Jude is the Patron Saint of desperate cases and lost causes, but I wish I had known, as that would have put an even sweeter spin to this tale.
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This is the best story every. Miracle deserves all the love, forever. And such a cutie now!
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I agree Ally – he deserves this undying love. He does not even look like the same dog … as the expression goes: “he cleans up well!”
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Awww…thanks for sharing the happy ending of this story with us, Linda. Jude does deserve to adopt Miracle after he put his own life in danger to rescue him. He looks like a different dog now. So glad to see him all recovered and warm! ❤
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Glad you enjoyed hearing about Miracle’s lucky match-up Laurie. This is perfect. He sure does look different and the vet did some tests on him to determine what kind of dog he was but has not posted it yet … I had been popping onto her site to see the outcome. He looks cuddly and warm and resembles a Cockapoo.
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Yay!!! I am so thrilled this story had such a happy and satisfying ending! 🙂 Thank goodness for people like Jude Meade and the others who saved this sweet little dog.
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I am thrilled too Barbara. This little dog lucked out thanks to Jude Meade and I was happy to see they reconnected and this time it is permanent. It’s a real feel-good story. 🙂
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What a happy ending for this wonderful little pooch. There are still lots of good people out there to help animals in need. Great story to share Linda
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Glad you liked the story Sandra and it was a happy ending. Jude Meade was so deserving to get to keep this dog and now they are reunited for good … a story involving borders that is good.
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I’m crying, Linda!🥲😘👏
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Oh Pam – I did too when I heard the news. I debated whether I should send you the link to this post as you and I had commented on your suggestion that I should adopt Miracle. I didn’t know Jude Meade was “in the running” but wow – what a great end to this pup’s misfortune which turned into good fortune. I was misting up when reading the Facebook post by the Friends of the River Rouge Animal Shelter. I figured I’d wait a few days and send it to you then if you didn’t see it. We really need these types of feel-good stories right now.
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Sooooo much, Linda!❤️
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❤️❤️❤️
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Great “happy-ending” story, Linda. Thanks for sharing it.
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Glad you liked it Rebecca. The story has made all the local media news for the reunion and the international border circumstances.
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Oh wow how nice Jude adopted Miracle! What a happy ending. I can’t believe somebody didn’t report Miracle missing.
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Yes, I’m so glad he got to keep Miracle. They actually had formed an adoption committee because so many people were interested in adopting Miracle. I’m glad they let Jude keep him as he went out on the dangerous ice to rescue him.
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The best thing about this is that we collectively had our attention taken away from something negative (virus) and focused on a animal in trouble! Of course we now know the ending was a happy one,but having a feel good story during the coldness of this damn virus reminds us all that we will be ok If we stay in touch with our emotions.
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You are absolutely correct Wayne. I’ve seen instances before where people have empathy for animals more so than their fellow man. In fact, today April the Giraffe died. She was euthanized today at 20 years old, due to severe arthritis and difficulty standing. I, along with millions of others, followed the sage of April and her pregnancy and I watched the live birth of her calf. The outpouring of emotion for April’s death was heartfelt … that tells you a lot as well.
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The perfect ending to the story! Welcome to Canada Miracle! So happy to hear the rescuer got to keep him – it was meant to be!
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I agree with you Joni. Did you like his snazzy coat?
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Yes! He looked like a totally different dog. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a matted coat.
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He sure does – I’ve never seen such a matted coat either. Before his rescue off the ice, I thought he was a Cockapoo breed from the curly and wild-looking fur. Then they gave him a bath and a haircut.
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Thank you for sharing this heartwarming story! Poor little guy…scared, cold, hungry. There are amazing and good hearted people in the world.
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Yes, it is heartwarming to read this story because we tend to forget about the goodness that is in the world after a year of sadness and despair with COVID.
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Very well said! There is goodness in the world; just got to keep our eyes and ears open.
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Yes – for sure Esther. A fellow blogger used to post once a week on the good stories she would hear or read about. She has stopped doing that as a post on WordPress and now does it through Instagram instead.
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That sounds like a good blog and Instagram page! So many heartwarming stories are neglected in the news and it becomes easy to believe that goodness is scarce.
I’m not sure if you know about K-Love, a streaming Christian radio station. In Michigan, it’s 92.3 FM. I wrote about it before in my blog’s Christian music category. If you get a chance, check it out! You may like it.
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Yes, they are all nice, heartwarming stories and for a while she was soliciting stories for her blog, but she’s posting mostly just in Instagram and will share that post with no comments using her WordPress site.
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We need more heartwarming stories, especially more so these days!
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Yes, COVID has taken its toll on our psyches – that’s for sure.
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It’s going to take lots of time to recover and heal from this pandemic. One difficulty is readjusting to in-person things now; drastic shifts going on.
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Yes, I don’t believe the end is in sight by any means. I don’t even think that once we reach herd immunity it will better either. There are too many people unwilling to adhere to the rules – it is not difficult to wear a mask unless you have a medical problem.
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I agree! Stubbornness that affects themselves and others. Wearing a mask seems like a small price to pay for well-being for now so that we can reach herd immunity. All we can do is stay safe and keep our distance from non maskers if possible. And that we are doing!!
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Same with me Esther – I intend to keep a mask on after the pandemic is declared over. From listening to the news, I think there will be many people not getting the vaccine, whether scared from the J&J issue (which they just reinstated use of the J&J vaccine a few hours ago) or influenced by others, I don’t know. It is sad at any rate.
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