Dog who saved Beaufort man’s life receives medal

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Dog who saved Beaufort man's life receives medal
Photo courtesy City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department

Curly, the dog who saved Beaufort man’s life receives a medal in a ceremony at Beaufort City Hall on Tuesday. In early October, Brian Rand of Beaufort was awakened in the early morning hours by his dog, Curly, hitting him with his nose repeatedly trying to let him know their house was on fire. Getting out of bed, he walked into the hallway, saw heavy smoke and immediately grabbed Curly to run outside.

They were both able to make it out of the house safely before firefighters arrived on the scene.

Rand believes that Curly saved his life. Authorities agree.

On Tuesday afternoon, Curly was given a lifesaving medal by Fire Chief Reece Bertholf and Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling in a ceremony on the front steps of Beaufort’s City Hall building.

Rand and Curly’s story gained national attention with interviews and articles by The Washington Post, CNN, the New York Post and every other news outlet in between.

According to the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department Facebook page, the lifesaving lab-mix was also given a bag of tennis balls as he was surrounded by about 20 of his closest four-legged friends as he received his award.