While they were out at Christmas dinner, Mitch and Santana Hawman's Vonda, Saskatchewan home caught on fire and was soon engulfed in flames. Noreen Lucas, Hawman's mother-in-law, had stayed home because she was feeling ill and was asleep on the couch. Luckily, the family dog, Rex, sprang into action.
"Rex was barking frantically and she kind of just shrugged him off and I guess she said she rolled over, like turned in toward the couch and then he started biting on her and pulling her and he pulled her off the couch and he had her by the shoulder and he ripped her pants and she finally saw like what his problem was. If it wasn't for him, my husband's mom wouldn't have made it out," Santana Hawman said, according to Global News.
"He was trying to save my mom's life, get her out of there. He knew that something was wrong and at that point she woke up and she said she looked down the hallway and it was just flames," said Mitch Hawman, according to CBC.
When the family got the call from Lucas saying the house was on fire and but that she had made it out safely, they rushed home from dinner in nearby Saskatoon. "We were probably still about 10 kilometres away from the house and we could just see the glow in the sky so at that point we already knew how big it was. It was just, we pulled up and half the house was already engulfed, Noreen had got out," said Santana Hawman, reported Global News.
The family members said they are eternally grateful to Rex for saving their beloved grandma's life. Rex has always been an important member of their family, but this takes their bond to another level.
Though the Hawmans were devastated about the loss of their home, their community has been giving them overwhelming support with Christmas gifts for the young ones, shelter and food. They're especially in awe of their amazing, lifesaving dog.
