Hero Dog Saves Owner from Skin Cancer by Sniffing Her Nose

When Lauren Gauthier from South Carolina decided to adopt an abused dog that had been in a neglected and shabby shelter, she never thought for a moment that this action would one day save her life.

Among dozens of dogs she saw, Lauren decided to adopt the one with one eye and named her 'Victoria,' inspired by the word 'victory.' "I knew that together we would overcome all the challenges she had faced, and that with me, she could recover from the terrible abuse she experienced," Lauren explained in an interview with 'People' magazine. "From the first moment I met her, there was a special connection between us that I can't explain. I immediately sensed she could feel when I was angry or stressed."

Not long after the adoption, one sunny day, Victoria started behaving oddly around Lauren's nose. "At first, I didn't understand why she kept sniffing around my nose repeatedly," Lauren recalls. "When it happened numerous times, I had a feeling my dog knew something I didn't, so I went to the mirror."

"When I heard the doctor’s final diagnosis, I couldn't believe it"

What she saw in the mirror was a tiny red dot on her nose, almost invisible. "I didn't understand how such a mark could appear on my nose and what it meant, so I visited the doctor just to be sure it was nothing dangerous."

But indeed, it was something significant.

"When I heard the doctor’s final diagnosis, I couldn't believe it. He explained that the red spot was actually a type of skin cancer or 'basal cell carcinoma,' as he called it. Yet amid all the shock, there was a silver lining when the doctor said I had nothing to worry about because the early warning saved my life, and all I needed was surgery to remove the malignant cells before they spread to other parts of my body."

Today, Lauren admits that even though the surgery altered her appearance, "It's truly amazing that my dog was able to sense something was wrong and save my life. I genuinely believe that good deeds we do don't go to waste, and now I understand it was Victoria's way of showing gratitude after I saved her from being abandoned."