This abandoned dog joins an adventure team shocks the world
This is adventure racing widely-held is the most dangerous sport in existence
Participants travel hundreds of miles across many different climates to a finish line far away
They bike swim row run and walk towards their destination most races take weeks at a time
When the Swiss national team entered the 2014 world championship race
They had no clue they'd attract another member of the team on the way. This member was a dog
His name is Arthur. And this is his story
Arthur and Michael Leonard met on day four of the 435 mile race
The dog wandered into a team transition area with flies circling and a nasty cut on his back. Nobody
Wanted to be near him. Not even Michael at the same time. I thought to myself
Nobody could be nice to this fellow
He said so I took some of my neat balls and put it on the ground in front of him, Michael
Didn't know he just made what would be a lifelong friend?
The world championship is brutal. It takes place in Ecuador and challenges teams to travel up to
15,000 feet in height across 13 different climate zones only a small portion of specially trained athletes can make it out alive
But somehow someway Arthur decided to follow them and captivate the world in the process
After departing the transition area the team realized someone was following them
It was Arthur the dog kept his distance, but noticeably stopped whatever the team stopped
And kept following them into the wilderness the course would end up testing this little dog's health though even to the point of death
Miraculously Arthur stuck with the team through the toughest parts of the race
He went through the hardest parts of the race with us. Karen Lundgren said just because of him I could focus on something else
I could focus on this dogfighting just as hard as I did
Member stephanberlin said the problem was the race did take its toll and soon threatened his life on
The dawn of day five the team was running out of food and water
They were weak and tired and Arthur began showing signs of decline
We had a rough night and Arthur was laying down next to us
Stefan said he could barely stand up and he was breathing really hard to me. It was really painful to see a dog suffer
so much the team had a difficult decision to make
The team saw Arthur breathing heavily and decided to give up what little food. They had to the dog. It didn't matter
We were probably going to run out of food. Karen said we didn't have a choice. We had to take care of him
Michel later said there was some sort of aura around this dog and the team just couldn't leave him
They named him Arthur after King Arthur because of his courage soon. However, Arthur would come to the end of the road
The last leg of the race was a kayak ride through mangrove swamps and race officials said Arthur
Couldn't follow the team any longer at that point but soon after taking off the team heard up plop in the water
Arthur jumped in and decided to follow them. Anyway, he swam next to their boats in pursuit
This act of loyalty urged Michel to break the rules of the race
Suddenly Michael reached in the water grabbed Arthur and stuck him on top of the boat
He clearly broke the rules of the race
But nobody on the Swiss national team cared some things are bigger than athletics on
The sports biggest stage one the team trained so hard to get to they disqualified themselves for a dog on
Day six the team crossed the finish line finishing 12, it wasn't the place they had mined, but they didn't care
They gained a new friend along the way the problem was Arthur was severely malnourished
Fatigued and had so many diseases that his very life was in danger yet again. They had to operate and fast
If Arthur stayed in Ecuador, he would have been killed. That's the culture
So Michael took Arthur home to sweep another 6,000 miles away and immediately took him to surgery
Arthur enlarged wounds on his back which were very infected. It wasn't certain whether he'd make it after
Surgery Arthur had to remain in quarantine for four long months
Like he did in the race before Arthur made it through and found a home with Michael and his family
The athlete was so moved by the dog story that he ended up creating his own foundation
Michael's family fell in love with him too the dog who traveled 6,000 miles through the jungles of Ecuador wasn't finished yet
He's not like a dog. He's more like a personality. Michael said cheering up. He's so clever. He's so smart
Because of his experiences in Ecuador Michael created the Arthur foundation a group designed specifically to help rescue stray dogs in Ecuador
It's been featured on ESPN
Daily Mail Lemire Huffington Post and USA Today
What started out with a meatball has grown into something that's affected millions of lives both human and animal