The tearjerking moment occurred in the aftermath of the 2013 Moore tornado
Viewers have been left with the same question after watching a tearjerking video of a woman rescuing her dog from the remains of her home in tornado ravaged Oklahoma.
Americans are pretty unfortunate when it comes to dealing with extreme weather events across their country. With the current news of hurricanes ravaging the southern state of Florida, you may think that moving inland would be a safe bet.
However, that is not always the case.
While the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are met with hurricanes in late summer/early autumn, the Great Plains region frequently suffers with violent tornados every spring.
One of the most violent tornadoes to hit the region in recent history was the extremely violent Moore tornado, which devastated the Oklahoma City suburb in 2013.
Ranked at EF5 on the (the highest level of the Enhanced Fujita scale), the tornado completely flattened everything in its path, including the homes of residents.
One of those residents was Barbara Garcia, who was taking shelter in her home with her dog Bowser during the storm and had ‘no time’ to escape the complete devastation of her home.
Despite her entire home and neighbourhood being flattened in the tornado, Garcia remained hopeful that she would be able to locate Bowser in the remains of her home – with her prayers being answered on camera when the pooch stuck his head out of a pile of rubble mid-interview with CBS News.
“The dog, the dog,” one of the crew members can heard saying, as the camera pans over the trapped pooch.
Clearly overcome with emotion, Garcia scrambled to free Bowser from the rubble before telling reporters that God had ‘answered’ both of her prayers.
“Well I thought God had answered just one prayer, ‘let me be okay’… He answered both of them,” she said, comforting the startled dog.
“Because this is my life… Poor little thing.”
The cameraman and news reporter both appeared moved by the heartwarming reunion – however, viewers were all left wondering why they didn’t step in to help Garcia free her dog from the rubble.
“Why did it take so long for the reporter or cameraman to help out,” one person replied to a clip of the interview on X, while a second added: “The fact the crew had to tell the reporter to help…. Maybe I’m crazy but if I was her, i would be putting the mic down and helping it with no words.”
Barbara Garcia rescued her dog Bowser after escaping the rubble herself (CBS News)
The ethical line between journalists reporting and intervening in stories is something, which has been often debated online, with reporters often trained to ‘witness’ and record events. However, this doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to step in, with the news crew seen assisting Garcia towards the end of the video.
