When Tia Vargas and her 76-year-old father started a rigorous hike up a mountain in Idaho, they had no idea that Tia would end up saving the life of a badly injured dog named Boomer.

Tia and her father had been hiking on a snow-covered mountain for about 3 hours when they came upon a badly injured springer spaniel. The dog was with a family of hikers who were unfamiliar with the area and had children with them.

The hikers were worried about the pup and didn’t know where his owner was and they weren’t sure what to do. The dog had a collar that said “Boomer” and the hikers had seen a notice at the foot of the trail that a family were missing their dog, so they assumed that this was the missing pup.

Upon closer inspection, Tia and her father discovered that the poor pup had sustained some massive injuries, and sadly, was no longer able to walk. The pooch had literally been abandoned in the wilderness and left to ᴅɪᴇ.

“His eyes were super puffy and bloodshot,” Tia said. “His body was swollen, even his bum was very very swollen. And you could tell he was very dehydrated. He had cuts and scratches on his belly and on his head. He was in bad condition.”

Tia too was pretty tired from her hike. She had climbed up in fits and starts, going up a little, then going down again to check on her father who was making his way up, and she had already done this about six times by the time she got to the summit near where Boomer was. But she couldn’t leave the dog behind. She decided right then and there that she was going to transport the injured dog out of the mountains and back to safety.

She hoisted up the 55-pound dog on her shoulders and set off on the less steep path down with her father. But it was harder than they had imagined. Unbeknownst to her, authorities had warned people not to go on the path because the trail had been obscured by snow and debris, and so Tia found no one who would help her carry Boomer down. And, it was her father who gave her the strength to carry on.

“He made a joke. It made me laugh and I thought, ‘I’m alright. I can do this.’ So I said a little prayer and I picked up Boomer and it literally felt like someone had walked up behind me and lifted the weight off my shoulders.”

Six hours and seven miles later, Tia finally got Boomer to the bottom and was able to reconnect him with his owners. It turned out that Boomer had fallen through a 100-foot snow crevice and then rolled 200 feet. His owners went after him but when they reached the bottom, he was nowhere to be found.

Now, knowing that he was safe, the family wept with joy. Then, in an unexpected turn of events, they explained to Vargas that they were about to move and that they were looking to rehome Boomer. And after everything she’d done for the sweet pup, they wondered if perhaps Tia wanted to be the one to adopt him.

Tia was very touched and agreed. It felt like fate had led her up the mountain and placed Boomer in her path. Now, Tia is Boomer’s new mommy and the two are so happy together.