Womans Dog Saves Her Life by Sniffing Out 1-In-22 Million Kidney Donor During Trip to the Beach

Every year the Westminster Kennel Club puts on a show to determine the best in breed. Well, they may as well hit "paws." Because the search is over.

A Doberman from South Wales just stole the show before it even began, winning the award for 'Best Dog Ever' by a nose.

Against nearly impossible odds, a dying woman's pet Doberman sniffed out a "perfect" kidney donor. The chances? 1 in 22 MILLION. (She may want her to pick out a lottery ticket next.)

A Day at the Beach Turns Into a Life-Saving Mission

Lucy Humphrey, 44, was diagnosed with Lupus, a condition that causes inflammation to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and joints, in 2000.

In 2017, her doctors diagnosed her with end-stage renal failure. Without a life-saving kidney transplant, she was given five years left to live.

Wanting to make the most of life, Lucy and her partner Cenydd Owen planned to take their 2 dogs on a campervan holiday in June 2021. However, they had to abandon their plans because of Lucy's dialysis treatments.

As a compromise, the couple took their dogs to a nearby beach for a BBQ instead. And that's where an ordinary outing turned into something really extraordinary.

In an incredible twist of fate, one of their Dobermans, Indie, took off running, nearly the length of a football field, to where a woman was sitting and crocheting. Despite Cenydd calling her back multiple times, Indie refused to leave her alone. It was completely out of character for her.

"Indie went over like three times, back and forward to her," Lucy told Wales Online.

Eventually, Cenydd went over to apologize and invited the stranger, Katie James, 40, to their BBQ.

Dog Fetches Owner a Kidney Donor

It was while the three were chatting that Katie discovered Lucy needed a kidney transplant. Lucy had been on the donor list for four years without one phone call and she was beginning to give up hope.

Unbelievably, Katie had just registered to be a kidney donor.

Katie and Lucy swapped numbers and contacted a donor coordinator the next day. Even more unbelievably, it turns out, Katie was a "perfect match."

“One doctor said it was the hand of God — more like the hand of dog if you ask me,” Katie joked.

Seriously though, Indie deserves ALLLLLL the cookies.

Due to Covid-related backlogs, the transplant didn't take place until more than a year later, in October 2022.

It was a success.

"I really needed this transplant, I'd been on the waiting list for several years. It's completely changed my life already," Lucy said.

Lucy is now fully recovered and living a normal life, something she will be forever grateful to both Katie and Indie for.

And Katie is happy Indie found her on the beach that day.

“I feel really lucky that I got to know Lucy. I know that it’s worked and I know that she’s out there living her life," she said. "To me, there’s been no negative to it whatsoever. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I feel so proud of myself and my family are proud of me.”

The two women have become lifelong friends, and are even planning a campervan holiday together.

It’s a Dog’s Life

According to Dr. David C. Dorman, professor of toxicology at North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, a dog's sense of smell is up to 100,000 times greater than a human's.

“It is so sensitive that [dogs can] detect the equivalent of a 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-sized swimming pool,” he said.

Dogs can also detect the smell of an object or a person as far as 20 kilometers away. Additionally, they can sniff out cancer, malaria, Covid-19, and Parkinson’s disease. And, as it turns out, a matching kidney donor.

As for our hero hound? Indie is now a therapy dog. She joined the Dobermans For Therapy group which visits hospitals and nursing homes.

“I hope she can work her magic on other people — she’s a real miracle dog,” Lucy said.

She sure is.

The fact that Indie brought Lucy and Katie together literally saved Lucy's life. She truly is a man's (or in this case, a woman's) best friend.