K9 team rescues man with dementia after car gets stuck in the mud

A Wellfleet man is alive today thanks to one local K9 team.

The 75-year-old man went missing on Tuesday afternoon after his car got stuck in the mud in a remote location in Hemenway Landing in Eastham.

“It was life or death when we found him, he was noticeably cold and physically distressed,” said Deputy Jason Bernardo, an Eastham Police K9 Handler.

A team of rescue crews were getting ready to embark on a search through multiple towns after an off duty firefighter spotted the man’s car with no one in it.

“They could’ve very easily said, ‘It’s a car stuck in the mud,’ and kept going, but fortunately they called it in and we were able to get a location,” said Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings.

The location was enough for Deputy Bernardo and his K9 partner Nick to tell the team of rescuers to stand down.

“We walked through a lot of terrain, a lot of grass, we had mud up to my knees; marshy areas, woods, there were a lot of environmental factors,” said Deputy Bernardo. “Thankfully it was about 40°F as opposed to last night when I was 19°F.”

The man, who suffers from dementia, was cold and distressed when police got to him.

“I’m not a doctor but you could see the effects of the weather,” said Deputy Bernardo. “His hands are blue, his skin, you could tell he was distressed his mental status, he wasn’t able to answer questions or carry a conversation. He looked like he was having a hard time.”

Medics took the man to the hospital where he is expected to survive.

The sheriff says the dogs are only as good as their handlers, so although he gives the dog a lot of credit for the rescue, he gives just as much to the handler for all of the intense training.

Deputy Bernardo says that he’s just happy this story had a positive outcome.

>> State Police K-9 locates missing senior in chest-deep water

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