Poland: Dog saves girl from freezing to death (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

Firefighters in Poland say a stray dog saved the life of a 3-year-old girl who went missing overnight in freezing temperatures.

The girl named Julia vanished from her home in Pierzwin on Friday, Reuters reported.

More from GlobalPost: Thousands of caterpillars found in man's bag at Gatwick airport

Family members last saw her playing with a small black dog named Czarue in the backyard, and it appears the pair wandered into a nearby forest.

Rescuers stumbled across Julia the next morning.

She was wet from lying in a moist marsh, clinging to Czarue and crying for her mother, The Daily Mail reported.

More from GlobalPost: Watch helicopter rescue deer trapped on frozen lake (VIDEO)

Though she did suffer some frostbite, firefighter Grzegorz Szymanski told BBC News the dog kept Julia warm enough to live.

"This dog is the most important part of this story," he told Reuters. "He is a hero. It is thanks to this dog that the girl survived the night."

Temperatures fell to about 23 degrees that night, according to Russian news network Ria Novosti.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.