A teenager was on vacation when she made a discovery that changed her and her family’s life forever.
Keira Alexandrian, 18 and from Los Angeles, was 17 when she found a stray dog while on vacation with her family in Oahu, Hawaii, last October—and that stray has since become a part of the family.
“I first noticed her early one morning at a boat harbor when we were heading out for a swimming with dolphins tour, Alexandrian recalled to Newsweek. “She was sitting there looking right at me and came up to me covered in ticks and a black tar-like substance that actually left my hands black after petting her.”
Alexandrian, who was with her mother and best friend on the tropical vacation, had to leave the pup to get on the boat for their trip, “and when we came back she was gone, which made me really sad.”
But that very night, while out for dinner in an area 20 minutes away, animal lover Alexandrian “begged” her mother to go back and check the place where she found the dog—and incredibly, “she was sitting in the exact same spot.”
The family was told that the dog had been dumped there as a puppy, and had fended for herself ever since. And, being part of a family of animal lovers, who even run non-profit @lifeanimalrescue, they made the decision there and then: this dog was coming home with them.
“We weren’t completely sure we would adopt her at first since we didn’t know how she’d get along with our dogs at home,” Alexandrian said. “But my family runs a nonprofit animal rescue [Life Animal Rescue], so we knew she would find a safe home either way. I really hoped she’d stay with us though.”
A video depicting the dog’s—now named Kona—story has gone viral since Alexandrian shared it to her TikTok account, @keira.bo.beira in April, where it has been viewed more than 2.2 million times. It begins with Alexandrian reuniting with Kona at the boat harbor after meeting her for the first time that morning, and finding her “waiting for me in the same spot.”
Kona rushes up to Alexandrian, her tail wagging in greeting, and the family cancels their dinner plans, gets the dog in the car, and sneaks her into the hotel, where they bathe her and give her a comfortable bed for the first time.
They took Kona to the vet, and had to release her to the pound to give any owner a chance to reunite with her if she was lost. But the family extended their trip to Hawaii—and days later, returned to collect her, this time checking into a pet-friendly hotel.
They got to know Kona’s personality as they explored the island together, going on plenty of walks and playing games in parks while waiting for the paperwork to allow them to bring her home for good—until finally, they were back in Los Angeles, and Kona instantly got along with their family dogs.
Alexandrian wrote over the video: “Now she sleeps in my bed every night and comes with me to the barn.”
TikTok users had a huge reaction, awarding the video more than 725,000 likes, as one commenter summed it up: “You’re truly one of the best people for doing something like that.”
“Just so you know, some of us cry to see how beautiful humans can be,” another said, as another wrote: “Knowing that you loved that pup enough to take her to the vet and back to LA is so heartwarming.”
Alexandrian, who also posts to Instagram under the username @keira__jewel, told Newsweek that of the whole ordeal, “one of the most emotional moments was when we landed back in Los Angeles” with Kona in tow.
“I’ve never seen a dog so happy to see people, she was moving around so excitedly that I had to wait for her to calm down before taking her out of the crate so she wouldn’t hurt herself. That’s when it really felt like she knew she was finally safe.”
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