NEED TO KNOW
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Jessica Johnson and her dog Molly fell 180 feet down a waterfall while hiking in New Zealand’s Arahura Valley
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A fundraiser raised over $6,300 to fund helicopter searches after Molly went missing following the accident
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Molly was found using a thermal imaging camera and reunited with Jessica, who is recovering from serious injuries
A missing dog has been reunited with their owner one week after they both fell 180 feet down a waterfall on New Zealand’s South Island, per multiple outlets, including The Guardian, The Independent and CNN.
Jessica Johnson and her border collie Molly had been hiking across mountainous terrain in a remote area of the Arahura Valley on the west coast of the South Island on March 24 when they fell down the 180-foot drop.
Seriously injured, Johnson was rescued by helicopter, but Molly disappeared. Despite the slim chances of locating the pooch, Lillian Newton, of Precision Helicopters, who had rescued Johnson, said she had “a gut feeling” that Molly was still alive, as noted by The Guardian.
Molly after being rescued
Credit: PRECISION HELICOPTERS LTD
“I contacted [Johnson] in [the] hospital and said I’d go for a look for [Molly],” said Matt Newton, her husband and the owner-operator of Precision Helicopters. “I went and looked for the dog several times and no avail.”
Lillian told the outlet that they wanted to help find Molly, but with a helicopter search and rescue costing a huge amount and no funding available for missing animals in New Zealand, they had to appeal to the public for the funds to find Molly.
The pair launched a fundraiser to pay for more helicopter flying hours and advanced search gear. Offers of help and donations poured in, with strangers pledging more than 11,000 New Zealand dollars ($6,300) to help find Molly, according to The Independent.
Molly was rescued by the team from Precision Helicopters in New Zealand
Credit: PRECISION HELICOPTERS LTD
The company kept followers updated with their progress on Facebook, noting that the search terrain was “extremely remote.” They also revealed that Johnson was “too injured from her fall down the waterfall to handle the multi-day hike back in to search for Molly herself.”
On Monday, March 30, the company shared the happy news that Molly had been found, along with photographs of Matt posing with the pooch. He told The Independent that he located Molly on the thermal imaging camera before physically finding her.
After being airlifted out of the valley, an excited Molly was reunited with Johnson, who had her arm in a cast, per CNN.
Molly the border collie
Credit: PRECISION HELICOPTERS LTD
“She’s been [through] a bloody rough week. But with both of us back home, I can add this adventure to the list,” Johnston wrote on her Facebook page, per the outlet, adding: “Still a great trip before our lives got turned upside down.”
“Once we got the right people on board with that gear, and the perfect day for it, we hit the jackpot,” Matt recalled of the rescue.
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As for canine Molly, Matt told CNN she was “in pretty good nick, a little bit subdued, but I think she looked like she knew she was being rescued.”
Meanwhile, Matt thinks Jessica will “heal a lot better having the dog by her side.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Jessica Johnson but didn’t immediately hear back.
Read the original article on People