19/08/2026
For years, when Carlos Fresco headed into the mountains for another long walk, there was usually someone beside him.
His name was Monty.
The Labradoodle had been with Carlos since he was a puppy, and over the next decade, the two became regular hiking companions.
They traveled across Britain together.
They completed the Three Peaks.
And among the places they returned to were the mountains of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
Monty didn't need to be carried then.
He walked beside Carlos.
But around 18 months before their final trip together, Monty was diagnosed with leukemia.
He underwent chemotherapy and initially responded well to treatment.
For a while, the cancer went into remission.
Then it came back.
By June 2021, Monty was 10 years old and becoming weaker.
The dog who had once climbed mountains beside Carlos could no longer move the way he used to.
Carlos knew their time together was running out.
Late that June, Carlos needed to drive a friend back to Brecon after the friend suffered a detached retina.
He decided to bring Monty with him.
They stayed for several days, and Monty spent much of the time resting in the garden.
Then Carlos noticed something at his friend's house.
An old wheelbarrow.
It gave him an idea.
Not far away stood Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales.
Carlos and Monty had walked there before.
This time, Monty couldn't make the climb himself.
So Carlos cleaned and oiled the old wheelbarrow.
He placed blankets inside.
Then he lifted his best friend into it.
If Monty's legs could no longer take him back up the mountain, Carlos would.
They set off toward Pen y Fan together one more time.
As Carlos pushed the wheelbarrow along the trail, other hikers began noticing the dog lying inside.
Some stopped to ask what had happened.
Carlos explained that Monty had leukemia.
He explained that the cancer had returned.
And he told them this was likely one of their last adventures together.
Strangers who had never met Monty began stopping along the trail.
Some wanted to pet him.
Others became emotional when they heard why he was there.
And some asked Carlos if they could take a turn pushing the wheelbarrow.
So, for part of his final journey through the mountains, Monty was carried by people who had only just learned his name.
Carlos later said Monty loved the attention.
Even weakened by cancer, the friendly dog still seemed happy to meet people.
It was the same personality Carlos had known for 10 years.
Only now, instead of Monty carrying himself along the trail beside him, Carlos was doing the walking for both of them.
They made their final trip through the mountain landscape together.
Then Carlos took Monty back to his friend's home in Brecon.
A few days later, on June 21, 2021, Monty's body was giving up.
During the early hours of the morning, Carlos saw him outside in the garden.
Monty eventually came back inside.
He curled up at the foot of Carlos' bed.
And sometime before morning, Monty died.
Carlos woke to find that the dog who had followed him across mountains for a decade was gone.
He believed Monty's heart had finally given out.
Carlos brought his best friend back to London and buried him in the garden of the family home.
Later, photographs of Monty lying peacefully in the wheelbarrow on Pen y Fan began traveling around the world.
To people who didn't know their story, they showed a man pushing an old dog up a mountain.
But for Carlos, the journey represented 10 years of walks that had come before it.
For most of Monty's life, the two had explored together on four feet and two.
They climbed hills.
They crossed trails.
They completed mountains.
And whenever Carlos headed forward, Monty could follow.
Until one day he couldn't.
So Carlos found an old wheelbarrow, filled it with blankets and made sure that losing the strength in his legs didn't mean Monty had to lose one final adventure too.
Strangers helped along the way.
They pushed him.
They stroked him.
They learned his name.
And then, just days later, Monty chose one final place to lie down.
At the foot of the bed belonging to the man he'd spent his life beside.
For 10 years, Monty had walked beside Carlos.
When he could no longer walk, Carlos carried him.
And when the final journey was over, Monty was still right where he'd always been.
Beside his best friend.