When Vladislav Duda fled war-torn Ukraine for the safety of neighboring Romania, he carried little more than hope — and his tiny orange kitten, Peach. Everything else could be left behind, but not her.
He didn’t know it yet, but that decision would save his life.
As Duda and two fellow travelers made the treacherous mountain crossing into Romania, a powerful snowstorm rolled in.
Winds howled, visibility vanished, and before long, Duda lost his footing. He slipped down a steep ravine and became trapped in the snow, injured and unable to climb out.
The temperature plummeted below freezing that night. His friends couldn’t reach him. But he wasn’t alone.
For nearly 24 hours, Duda lay in the ravine, clinging to consciousness — and to Peach. The little kitten pressed herself against him, sharing what warmth she could.
When rescuers from Romania’s Salvamont Maramureș search and rescue team finally found them, they couldn’t believe what they saw: a man barely conscious, holding his cat tightly to his chest.
“The cat was warm and was warming him,” said Dan Benga, director of the rescue crew. “She saved his life. The only thing he cared about was the cat — not himself.”
Wrapped in blankets and lifted from the mountain, Duda was rushed to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
Peach stayed with him every step of the way, refusing to be separated from the man who had carried her across countries — and who now owed his survival to her love.
The rescue team called Peach’s devotion nothing short of a miracle. And in many ways, it was.
Through war, snow, and near-death cold, one tiny kitten proved that love — no matter how small or fragile — can be the strongest lifeline of all.
A spokesperson later shared, “They are both in recovery, getting well.”
