A little girl who survived 12 nights in an abandoned Siberian forest has revealed she wants to help others by becoming a doctor.

The story of Karina Chikitova, deemed the “real-life Mowgli,” is a fascinating tale that mirrors that of Disney’s The Jungle Book.

Ten years later, she’s opened up about how her loyal puppy saved her life and what she plans to do growing up.

Karina Chikitova, who survived 12 nights in Siberia, talked about her hopes of becoming a doctor

Image credits: sohu

Karina, who is now 14 years old, sat down with an interviewer on Russian state TV to discuss her career dreams of focusing on medicine, despite winning a beauty contest and being accepted into the world’s northernmost professional ballet school.

“I don’t study at the Yakutsk ballet school anymore,” she stated, according to Daily Mail. “I moved to Arylahk… and I study at another school.”

When she was asked what she wanted to be, she replied, “A doctor,” amidst a round of warm applause.

Image credits: ulus media

The TV presenter responded warmly, saying, “Look at you, 14 years old — you’re already a legend. You’re a star.”

And while it was indeed legendary that she was able to survive in the remote Russian wilderness, especially as a three-year-old girl, Karina didn’t seem to remember much of what happened.

Image credits: sohu

The interviewer asked, “You don’t remember anything?” to which she simply replied, “No.”

“This is my dog Naida,” Karina said, showing a picture of her Alsatian (German Shepherd). “She was with me in the forest, but I no longer remember how I played with her, [how she saved me]…” 

Karina’s survival story made headlines after she defied the odds stacked against her

Image credits: sohu

Karina was enjoying a mundane morning in August of 2014 in her tiny village of Olom when she spotted her father heading outside, as written by Historic Flix. 

He wasn’t aware his daughter was following him, so he made no effort to slow his pace. After a while, Karina lost sight of her dad and found herself stranded in a forested area infested with bears and wolves.

It was out of pure luck that one of her family dogs — Naida — had followed her.

Image credits: sohu

As dusk fell and temperatures plunged below zero, the two clung to one another. The dog’s fur was the only thing keeping Karina from freezing to death.

The unlikely pair was able to survive by gathering berries and drinking water from the rivers they passed whenever thirsty.

Adam Chippindale, a biology professor at Queen’s University, told Bored Panda that one of the reasons why dogs are so undyingly loyal to their human owners is due to hormones like oxytocin, sometimes called the “love drug.”

“The idea is that we have emphasized hormones that favor close bonds by making loyalty pleasurable,” he said.

Nearly two weeks passed until another human saw Karina

Image credits: sohu

Back at home, the Chikitova family had alerted authorities of their missing daughter, knowing all too well the dangers that lurked in the Siberian wilderness.

100 individuals — including numerous helicopters — were searching to find the little girl but it was like trying to find “a needle in a haystack,” according to the outlet.

Nine days passed and yet, there was no sign of Karina. Yet her mother refused to give up hope.

“As a mother, I felt that she would be found,” she said.

Image credits: sohu

And she was right.

Naida returned to Olom, but soon went back to where she came from, which led authorities to follow her. She first brought them to a swampy site, but Karina was still nowhere to be found.

Three days passed until the search team stumbled upon the little girl, bundled up in tall grass in an effort to keep herself warm. 

Her rescuer, Artyom Borisov, described the emotional moment he laid eyes on her.

Image credits: The Siberian Times

“She was sitting deep in deep grass, completely silent,” he recalled. “I didn’t actually notice her. She saw me and stretched her arms forward. I picked her up — she was so tiny, so light, like fluff. She didn’t have shoes on.

“Her face, legs and arms were bitten to blood (by mosquitoes). She was dead scared. Straight away she asked for water and food, and burst into tears. To be honest, I could hardly hold back tears, too.”

It was reported that her heartbreaking first words to her dog were: “Why did you leave me?” 

Karina’s journey of resilience was memorialized in Yakutsk

Image credits: VertigoWarrior

The rescue team immediately provided the little girl with water and food, including hot tea to keep her warm. She had lost a lot of weight and had a couple of injuries, but was expected to make a full recovery.

She spent a few days in the hospital before returning home to her family and describing what happened in those 12 long, terrifying days. 

Later on, a statue of Karina and Naida was built in the Russian city of Yakutsk to remember their story of “survival and companionship.”

Readers praised Karina’s strength and pointed out how her story proved the extent a dog would go to protect their human

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