In 2018, Samantha Orr, her mother, and her dog Bently were driving through the Colorado mountains. What started as an idyllic mountain drive quickly turned into a nightmare – one the TikTokker is only ready to talk about years later.
When the loose shale near the edge of the road gave way, the two women were pulled off the side of a mountain. Bently was jettisoned from the vehicle as it flipped down the rocky terrain. Samantha miraculously survived the ordeal, but her mother tragically lost her life in the accident. By the time she was released from the hospital, no one had managed to find her missing dog.
The fatal car accident
Samantha and her mother were having a perfect mountain drive when the unthinkable happened. The passenger wheel of their jeep caught the build-up of finely crushed rock at the edge of the narrow road, dragging the vehicle down the rocky slope. The Jeep slid down the shale covered mountain, Sam estimates around 20 feet, before catching on firmer ground.
The abrupt resistance sent the vehicle flipping down the mountain. During the first few rolls – which Sam remembers being less violent – Bently was launched from the top of the Jeep. She didn’t have long to process the moment, however, as the jeep continued its descent, it gained momentum. Sam was certain she would die as the vehicle tumbled down, alternating between flipping vertically and horizontally nearly 600 feet.
The vehicle was crushed and off kilter when it came to a stop, and Sam miraculously survived the fall. Knowing that any attempt to exit the vehicle could cause it to flip again, Sam knew she should wait for help – but her mother’s condition was no match for her mountain safety training. She wasn’t conscious, and though it hurt too much to elaborate in her stories, it was obvious her mom needed help quickly.
Sam exited the vehicle and screamed for her family – whom she hoped were nearby – and scrambled to safety before losing consciousness. When she came to, her family was by her side. They had moved her mother out of the Jeep, and she could see them alternating CPR to keep her alive.
Before she lost consciousness again, Sam asked her cousin whether anyone had spotted Bently. Trying to keep her calm, the cousin said they had found him, and told her a medevac would arrive soon. It took two hours for help to arrive.
The remote location combined with the steep mountain terrain meant nothing but a helicopter could reach them. Despite two helicopters being dispatched, the paramedics had to land at the end of trail and hike to reach the family. The extreme terrain meant that Sam had to walk with the paramedic’s help to the helicopter. Adrenaline kept her going, but, as a fan of Gray’s Anatomy, she knew their insistence on moving her meant the worst for her mom.
She felt her mom’s presence during her helicopter ride, though she wouldn’t learn of her death for several more hours. Despite the horrific experience, somehow Samantha made it through with minimal injuries. She was heavily bruised, and moving much at all hurt. But Sam had survived.
Finding the missing Bently
When her family arrived at the hospital hours later, her cousin was quick to come clean about Bently. Although the family had scoured the mountain for the missing pooch, Bently was nowhere to be found. The year and a half old Golden doodle was by no means a small dog. At 70 lbs., he was a decent size, but not big enough to fight off a mountain lion, or any manner of wild animal. The pampered pup was doted on in his day-to-day life, and had never spent so much as a night outside.
News of the crash spready quickly, and people rallied to help Sam find her dog after losing her mother. Neighbors made a Facebook page to organize search parties, Newspapers ran notices about his disappearance, News stations covered the accident, and family members and friends handed posted fliers near the trail heads. A family friend even offered up a $1000 reward.
The day before the Jeep was set to be recovered, Sam received a phone call. The caller told her that while he didn’t have the dog, he had seen him – right by the accident site. The designer dog was hunting rock mice, and seemed to be relatively unharmed. His location and the timing made Sam feel as though God had intervene in her story and was trying to lead her back to Bently.
She reached out to animal experts for advice on how to handle the traumatized animal. His survival instincts had kicked in, and he was much more likely to be skittish, even with his person. Returning to the cliffs 19 days after her accident, Sam wore some of her dirty clothes to help spread her scent and set up a small hotplate to try and lure Bently in with food.
To her surprise, Bently was sitting just above the accident site, keeping an eye on the last place he’d seen his family. Though he was too far to see with the naked eye, they could hear as he barked at the recovery team, as if he was warning them away from the accident site. As much as she tried to lure him down, he was unwilling to budge, even for her.
Giving up, she climbed to the top, back through the loose rock and shale that had nearly ended her life. Sam is open about her fear of heights, but she knew she had to reach the top of the mountain to rescue her pup. She was terrified, and struggling to make progress, but every time she felt like giving up, her friend helped her climb. When she couldn’t fight the panic, he would help push her forward.
When they finally reached the mountain’s ridge, Bently was watching them warily.
His fight or flight instincts had kicked in, and experts warned her not to approach. When she tried, he moved away. She stuck with him for hours, keeping a good distance so as not to scare him, but every step closer she took meant he would take 5 away. Eventually, Sam realized that she was doing more harm than good.
Embracing the experts’ advice, she sat down and waited for his curiosity to bring him back to her. Samantha waited for hours for Bently to approach her. She felt a sense of peace; she had just conquered the mountain that had killed her mother, and nearly killed her, and she had been waiting for weeks to see her beloved dog again. What was a few more hours?
The “Bently Video” shows the moment he finally came to meet her. As much as it’s a super emotional moment for her. She knows her mom was with him those days, and with her as she made the climb. When Bently finally allowed her to embrace him, she could feel her mom in the moment.
“When I did finally get the dog, I just imagined my mom there. And Us 3 in an embrace together…. The only 3 souls that were in the Jeep and experienced this horrific thing together.”
Its been 6 years since the accident, and Bently is alive and well. The pair have healed together, and her once wild pup has gone right back to being a spoiled pooch.
Published: Mar 15, 2024 03:35 pm