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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — <\/span>When a hiker fell from a 55-meter (180-foot) waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which couldn’t be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite pet and owner. <\/p>\n A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island\u2019s West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24 but they were forced to leave without her pet.<\/p>\n Molly was bedraggled and hungry when she was found Tuesday, just a few meters from the spot where the hiker had been lucky to survive.<\/p>\n \u201cI contacted her in hospital and said I\u2019d go for a look for it,\u201d said Matt Newton, the owner-operator of Precision Helicopters New Zealand, which is based at Hokitika Gorge near the Arahura River where Molly went missing. \u201cI went and looked for the dog several times and no avail.\u201d<\/p>\n Unwilling to give up, Newton and his family launched a fundraiser to pay for more flying hours and advanced search gear. Offers of help and donations poured in, with strangers pledging more than 11,000 New Zealand dollars ($6,300) for a search.<\/p>\n It was enough to fund three more hours in a helicopter using thermal imaging equipment. On Tuesday, Newton took to the skies with a veterinary nurse, volunteer searchers and a dog named Bingo in a renewed search for Molly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe struck jackpot within about an hour,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we made our way up the river, we could see the dog in the thermal and then we could visually see it.\u201d<\/p>\n There had been no sign of Molly at the waterfall when Newton previously searched the spot, he said. It wasn\u2019t clear if the dog had also fallen from the waterfall or if she had eventually made her way to the spot where her injured owner landed. <\/p>\n The helicopter dropped low enough for a volunteer to disembark with the rescue dog Bingo to help coax Molly to safety and keep her calm. <\/p>\n Newton thought the dog had survived by eating feral animals during her week in the wilderness. <\/p>\n \u201cShe knew what we were up to, I think,\u201d he said. \u201cShe behaved real well. She didn\u2019t run away and she was pleased to be rescued.\u201d<\/p>\n The dog was in \u201csurprisingly good condition,\u201d the pilot said. He sent word back to the helicopter base, where other volunteers waited to take turns in the search. \u201cInstead we just had a big barbecue and all had a cuddle with Molly.”<\/p>\n Hours after the dog\u2019s rescue, her owner, still battered from her fall, arrived for a tearful reunion.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019ll speed up her healing process somewhat,\u201d Newton said. \u201cHaving your dog back, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n