Wife wields shovel to save husband from moose

Dorothea recounted her tale, while her husband recovered from his wounds on Jan. 23, 2012. / Anchorage Daily News video

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An 85-year-old Alaska woman used a grain shovel to fend off an agitated moose that was stomping her husband.

George Murphy says his wife saved his life.

The Anchorage Daily News, says the 82-year-old pilot, who flew for three decades for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was hiking with his golden retrievers near the Willow airport on Friday. He saw the moose and dove in the snow, but the moose started stomping him.

His wife, Dorothea, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 97 pounds, grabbed a big shovel from the back of their pickup truck and hit the moose in the body and head.

"When it turned and started to go off slowly, I hit it with everything I had," the 85-year-old told the Anchorage Daily News.

She ran for help, and Murphy was rushed by medical helicopter to an Anchorage hospital, where he was in good condition Monday with a gash to his head.

[THISTLE2]

YOU GO GIRL!

[Zann-Zel]

Now that's Love! : )

[bree1345]

Good for her - you do what you have to do to save your loveones from any harm. Dyamite comes in small packages -

[ModMom2011]

You go girl!

[nativecc]

So where were his dogs in all of this? They didn't come to his aide? Man's best friend, HA! :)

[Zann-Zel]

That is odd - normally golden retrievers are pretty protective.

[obbop]

A good woman is hard to find.

A good woman with a shovel at hand even harder.

It's a shame there is not any method of "voting" about others' comments.

A thumbs up or down method would be fun.

And the "score" could be a way to determine We, the People's general outlooks.

And with this venue I betcha' the typical visitor is above par in various ways regarding intellect, education level, etc.

I would be interesting to view what the quasi-elites of the Web consider to be "good", "so-so" and "bad" comments, opinions conveyed via comments, etc.

Should be easy for a coder/Web master to ember voting.

Hint hint. HINT

[Zann-Zel]

Get busy on that CBS! : )

[Rafterman11]

Hokey smoke, its moose and squirrel.

[AnnieDanny]

That's a really cute story. Not the part about her husband getting stomped by the moose, I'm sorry to hear that. But a tiny old woman going after a big brawny moose with a shovel? And she WON?? What a hero!!

[rwsmith29456]

What was a moose doing with a shovel in the first place?

[lilbear925]

Keep that shovel handy to use on the animal rights activists.