A dog in Vermont is being revered as a hero after leading law enforcement officers to her owner, who was injured in a severe rollover car crash.

On January 3 at around 10:00 p.m., Trooper Sandberg with the New Hampshire State Police (NHSP) responded to a report of a dog wandering on the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge near the New Hampshire Vermont border on interstate 89, according to an NHSP release.

Sandberg and Lebanon Police Department officers found the one-year-old Shiloh Shepherd named Tinsley heading north toward Vermont. Every time they tried to get close to Tinsley, she would run northbound, and the canine eventually made her way into Vermont. Shortly after crossing the state border, Sandberg and the officers discovered a section of damaged guardrail.

WCVB reported:

“They could tell the dog was trying to show them something because she kept trying to get away from them but didn’t run away totally,” said New Hampshire State Police Lt. Daniel Baldassarre. “It was kind of, ‘Follow me. Follow me.’ And they did that and, to their surprise, to see the guardrail damaged and to look down to where the dog is looking at, they were almost in disbelief.”

Authorities discovered a rolled-over truck and two occupants that had been thrown from the vehicle.

The crash victims, both men, were hypothermic by the time authorities arrived. Sandberg and the officers quickly requested medical assistance at the scene and realized that Tinsley belonged to the vehicle’s driver, Cam Laundry, of Vermont. 

“I kind of compare it to, for those who remember, a real-life ‘Lassie’ story, where the people are in distress and the dog goes and gets help and brings them right to where the person is,” Baldassarre told WCVB.

First responders from the Lebanon Fire Department and the Hartford Fire Department in Vermont arrived at the scene and began treating Laundry and the passenger.

“The whole time we were starting our patient care it sat there nice and calm right next to its owner,” said Hartford Fire Captain Jack Hedges, per WPTZ.

The men were transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment, per WPTZ. Once Laundry was released from the hospital, he went home to be with Tinsley.

“She’s my little guardian angel, you know,” Laundry told WPTZ. “It’s a miracle that she had that kind of intelligence to do what she did.”

He planned to give Tinsley a special treat for saving him and his passenger. 

“She gets spoiled all the time. She’ll get some venison, probably burger tonight, and maybe some backstops with it,” Laundry said. 

The NHSP says Tinsley did not appear to be hurt in the crash.