STORIES
Animal
DONATE

Balto

by Belen from San Isidro

Balto's Statue in Central Park (http://www.centralpark.com/pages/attractions/balto.jpg)
Balto's Statue in Central Park (http://www.centralpark.com/pages/attractions/balto.jpg)

My hero is an animal hero, it is a sled-dog; its name is Balto. Balto lived in Nome, Alaska. He lived 11 years.

I think Balto is a hero because he saved lots of children from a disease called diphtheria. This illness is cured with a medicine called Serum. There was a problem at Nome because they didn’t have Serum. Anchorage had the medicine needed but it was about 1000 miles away. The only way to get to Anchorage to get the medicine was in a sled-dog race due to a strong wind, which didn’t let the doctors go and fetch the medicine by plane. In 1925, Gunner Kaassen drove his dog team into the streets of Nome. Leading his team was a husky dog named Balto.

Balto's body in a museum today (site vecchiosalice.altervista.org)
Balto's body in a museum today (site vecchiosalice.altervista.org)

On the way back the man was paralysed and frozen with cold temperatures (-50 degrees). So Gunnar Kaassen lost his hope to save the children. Balto remembered the way and leaded the team back to Nome. When they arrived, the dogs were so tired that they could hardly bark. On his honor they made a statue of him in New York, Central Park. I admire Balto because if he didn’t risk his life to get back to Nome, all those children would be dead.

A hero is some one who thinks about others before thinking about himself and in order to save other human being’s life. That’s why I chose Balto.

Page created on 12/4/2007 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 12/4/2007 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.