Wounded Marine Corps dog receives the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Dickin Medal for sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

Luca, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, was awarded the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal for sniffing out a homemade roadside bomb in Afghanistan which cost Lucca her leg. The medal was awarded to Lucca two years after the incident.

Her first handler Sgt. Chris Willingham adopted Lucca into his family after the incident. “Lucca is very intelligent, loyal and had an amazing drive for work as a search dog. She is the reason I made it home to my family and I am fortunate to have served with her,” Willingham said. Lucca completed over 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan without any human casualties during her watch.

Lucca’s second handler Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, was with her when an explosion took her leg in March of 2012. “The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca. I ran to her and saw she was struggling to get up. I picked her up and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree line, applied a tourniquet to her injured leg and called the medics to collect us,” Rodriguez said. Before the explosion Lucca had already found over 30 pounds of explosives.

Lucca is currently joining a short list of animals to win the PDSA Dickin Medal, the equivalent of a Purple Heart. Also on the list are Apollo, the search-and-rescue dog from 9-11, and G.I. Joe, the pigeon who flew 20 miles to save Allied Forces.