Illinois man finds his dog in rubble of tornado

Yesterday, Reddit user TFalltheway posted a series of photos on imgur of a man finding his dog in the rubble left by a tornado in Washington, Illinois.

"This is my husband's friend. He had been out all day trying to salvage anything he could. He was about to call it quits when he heard a faint bark. Thankfully he had plenty of people still there to help him dig out his 11-year-old dog. It suffered a dislocated hip, but is otherwise fine. This truly was a great end to a dismal day," commented Reddit user are_you_a_size14.

The photos quickly went viral, with Redditors volunteering to pay the dog's medical bills.

The outpouring of support led to all of Maggie's expenses covered at Teegarden Veterinary Clinic, with extra funds helping other injured animals at the clinic and even being passed on to other clinics where the need was greatest.

Weather.com shared more of the story:

Jonathan Byler Dann, 37, survived Sunday's deadly tornado by hunkering down in his basement with his four young children, Weather.com reported. His dog, Maggie, however, refused to enter the safe room with them and stayed in her kennel.

Upon realizing the tornado had destroyed his home, Byler Dann assumed Maggie was dead. He discovered her wrapped in a piece of carpeting, shivering, dirty and in pain, 30 hours later.

He posted a photo of the dog with the caption "Maggie found!!!!!" on Facebook before taking her to the veterinary clinic for some medical care.

"I felt intense relief and elation but also just panic," Byler Dann said of finding Maggie. "I'm very thankful and blessed to have my wife and my children. And finding my dog today was just unreal."