An animal lover has been hailed a 'real-life superhero' for using her drone to save a lost dog's life - when she tracked her down four miles from home just minutes before a 'deadly' storm hit. Erica Hart abandoned her shopping trip when Jamie Hollinshead phoned her to say his rescue dog Hilda had bolted from their garden.
Dramatic drone footage shows the 33-year-old following the escaped schnauzer as she runs down a residential road in Thurnscoe and narrowly dodges an oncoming car. When the two-year-old pooch darted into a nearby field, Jamie tried to catch her but she fled further down the field and out of sight.
The drone operator then asked 43-year-old Jamie's wife Leah Hollinshead, 37, to close in on her and when she emerged from the bushes and called her over and the family was reunited. Leah has hailed Erica a 'real-life superhero' and believes Hilda could have been killed had she not been found before a thunderstorm hit minutes later.
Humble Erica regularly finds lost dogs with her drone for free, but was particularly pleased with this job as she'd taken in and rehomed Hilda with Jamie in April.
Jamie, from Clayton, Lancashire, said: "What she did is brilliant. She's a hero, a real superhero. We'd had a couple of hours with no sighting but she spotted her in 20 minutes. It just shows how good these drones can be, we were so relieved when she found her.
"She saved her life. She could have been run over or the storms could have panicked her. You just think the worst straight away. Erica was in constant communication with us. She knew what she was doing and where to look and told us all to split up.
"I've no idea how she got out. It must have been a tiny gap in the fence, but the storm must have scared her. She doesn't leave my side usually, she's like my shadow. As it was getting later, we thought we'd never see her again. The storms were going to start again and that was worrying. It brought a tear to my eye when we got her back."
Erica was called at 3pm after Hilda's family had been looking for her for two hours, so she rushed home and headed to the area of the last sighting. After searching the area on foot they sent up the drone and spotted her running down a street where Erica began following her.
Within six minutes Leah had closed in on her black pooch thanks to Erica's directions and picked her up ready to take home.
Erica, from Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire, said: "It was great to see the owner's face when they've been chasing the dog for hours, then I turn up and it's over in 20 minutes. Thank god we found her when we did. They were over the moon and it's so rewarding.
"The storms started minutes after I got the drone down. It was good timing because Hilda could have darted and we wouldn't have seen her for hours. Once that drone's above the dog, it's not going anyway because I can guide people in quick enough. It's like a military operation. I'll interrogate the owners about what the dog's like and that builds a picture up."
Erica claims she's rescued more than 200 dogs in seven years and has grown a Facebook group called Hartar to 2,500 members where she provides updates and users share lost dog posts. She doesn't charge any money for the service and says she does it purely for the love of dogs - even if it means spending money on petrol instead of treating herself.
Erica added: "I go home some days and I've spent £50 out of my own pocket and I've gone without stuff for myself to put petrol in the car to find a dog. When I post it on Facebook and I see the comments I lay in bed with a smile on my face and realise why I do it. I do it for the love of the dogs."
