In the deepest Alaskan winter of 1924, the doctors and nurses of a small hospital in Nome fought a losing battle. Dr Curtis Welch – the only practitioner in the town – and his bevvy of nurses came face to face with an outbreak of Diphtheria: a lethal and highly infectious disease that primarily affects children.
One of the only known treatments for the condition was an antitoxin serum. Unfortunately, by the time Dr Welch had diagnosed the first case the hospital’s entire batch was gone.
Against all the odds
With the weather closing in, the delivery of a new batch of serum by plane or boat was ruled out. Faced with the prospect of a lethal epidemic, Dr Welch and the town council organised a delivery of the serum by the only other known method: the dogsled.
One of the foremost teams then assembled comprised Norwegian Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog, Husky Togo, with whom Seppala had an excellent rapport. 12-year-old Togo, 10 other dogs, and their handler began their epic 630-mile round trip between Nome and Nulato at the end of January.
Mammoth relay
When it became clear the journey would be impossible to finish alone, they joined a relay of 20 other drivers and 150 dogs to cover the distance, and the serum was delivered to Nome on February 2nd.
19 teams ran an average of 31 miles to cover the journey. Seppala and Togo's team ran 264. But because Balto was the lead dog when the serum arrived in Nome, he was the dog who got all the fame, including a statue in New York's Central Park.
Luckily, it looks like Togo is finally getting his long-overdue recognition. In 2011, Time Magazine named him the most heroic animal ever. And Disney has created a beautiful film in his honour.
If you haven't seen it yet, head over to Disney Plus, and ... bring tissues!
