Cancer-stricken Riverside man reunited with missing dog

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- A 22-year-old man battling brain cancer has been reunited with his biggest supporter, his dog Maiden, who had gone missing in Riverside.

"It was very emotional. I was crying inside. A little teary eyed, but it was just amazing," Sebastian Delgado said.

Delgado was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the past year, and his 10-month-old pit bull has helped him emotionally to get through the ordeal.

But on Saturday, the dog found an open gate at the Riverside home of family friends and wandered off near Jefferson Street and Magnolia Avenue.

After contacting Eyewitness News with #ABC7Eyewitness and making a public plea for help, Maiden was found.

Tracy Dose, an employee at the Riverside Police Department, saw the ABC7 Facebook post and remembered that her co-worker, Valarie Pataky had mentioned she found a lost pit bull and took him home.

"My first thought was, 'Oh my gosh, she's too close to the street. I want to get her.' So I just stopped the car and told my sister, 'Open up the door, let's see if she'll come in,'" Pataky said. "She jumped right in the car with us."

Pataky and Dose connected the pieces and immediately contacted Delgado, and the reunion was arranged in minutes.

Doctors say Delgado's tumor will most likely come back, as will chemotherapy and possibly more brain surgery, so he's glad he can have Maiden by his side.