Local man adopts stray dog after it follows him 160 miles through Brazillian mountains

David Green has a new lifelong companion.

At first glance, “Lucky Caminho” seems like your average suburban house dog, but it was a miraculous journey that brought him and Green together.

“I’ll never forget the night that I met him,” Green said.

Green, a veteran ultramarathoner, took part in the Caminho De Fe trail in Brazil. This was in late January.

The trail is 365 miles through a remote, mountainous area. It involves 16 to 18 hours of running a day. Many runners start but don’t finish.

Green says about halfway through his journey, a stray dog started tagging along.

“Our spirits were very low,” he said. It was a grueling, grueling grind.”

Green told Action News Jax that in Brazil, it’s common for stray dogs to tag along with runners from town to town.

But for the next 160 miles, the stray he’d call “Lucky Caminho” never wavered, often running by Green’s feet.

“When you’re in a lot of pain, and you’re running in the mountains in the middle of the summer and you’re hurting, a dog all of a sudden makes you smile and gives you a focal point that’s not your own misery,” he explained.

David and his wife knew Lucky was special, after Green sought medical help for the physical pain his feet were in.

Hours later, in the Brazilian mountains, Lucky somehow reappeared by Green’s side.

“She said, ‘you have to bring him home,’” he told us.

Lucky was battling a tick-borne heart disease. He was anemic and severely malnourished. Green said he only weighed 25 pounds during the race.

Yet Lucky still crossed the finish line with Green.

Now, Lucky lives with Green and his family at their Jacksonville Beach home.

Green says Lucky wakes him up every morning, excited for the next run.

“You can always run further, run faster. But the chance connection with another soul is what’s super special about him.”

Cox Media Group