Last week, a man who was kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico off of the Florida coast noticed something unusual: a dog in the water, swimming for his life. The kayaker paddled over to the dog and lifted him out of the water. He saw that the animal was terrified, exhausted, and injured, with bleeding wounds on his legs.

The kayaker headed toward shore and took the dog to a nearby veterinary office. When the vet scanned the dog's microchip and identified his owner, the sad truth was learned. It turned out that the dog had fled a fatal pedestrian accident that morning. His owner, however, had not survived the crash.

According to police reports, the car accident occurred earlier that afternoon, as a 53-year-old woman was jogging with the dog, a Hungarian Vizsla named Barney. Suddenly, a car jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the pair. The woman died at the scene, and Barney fled, terrified and injured. It is not known how or when the dog made his way into the Gulf.

Police say that the 22-year-old driver was drunk after spending the day at the beach. When he crashed into the woman, he was reportedly in the process of fleeing an earlier hit-and-run accident, the details of which are not known. The driver has been charged with DUI manslaughter, and is being held without bail.

Barney, on the other hand, is expected to make a full recovery from the injuries he suffered in the crash. He has been returned to members of his owner's family.

Source: The Arizona Republic, "Kayaker finds swimming dog that escaped fatal crash," Jan. 10, 2012