Unfortunately, tragic things occur to pets and it’s even more difficult if there are children involved who need to hear the bad news. Dad Glenn Maloney just witnessed a car accident with the family dog Mugsy, and he was convinced that the four-footer was killed by the impact.

He needed to somehow tell the kids that Mugsy, a loyal 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier, passed away, something that most definitely wouldn’t be an easy conversation at all.

At around 3 PM, Mugsy was struck by a vehicle outside of girlfriend Viola Tiszl’s home.

“I picked Mugsy up,” the man told PEOPLE, ” but he died in my arms.”

It seemed like all hope was lost. The dog was hit by the car while Glenn was checking on the kids Megan and Kevin. After he heard the impact, he told them to stay inside the home because they didn’t need to witness this terrible event from closeby.

Glenn immediately went over to check on the pup, but he wasn’t breathing anymore and there was no heartbeat either, according to the man. He decided to bury the dog and wait a while before he’d tell the kids.

“I was really upset. So I buried him quick and I didn’t even tell the children,” Maloney said to Oprah. “I didn’t have the nerve to tell the children, until like seven o’clock that night. Mugsy was dead.”

When the time finally came to tell the kids, they decided to hold a ceremony in the backyard to say goodbye.

Little Megan wanted to put a cross at his grave, and dad told her that they could make it happen the next morning. After saying their prayers and their goodbyes, the family went back inside, heartbroken.

However, they were completely shocked the following day when they heard noises at 5:30 in the morning.

It was a scratching noise, and it was coming from the door. Maloney decided to check it out.

When he opened the door, Mugsy jumped right in his arms!

“Little tail wagging at 90 mph,” he recalls.

The family couldn’t believe what just happened and thought the whole thing was incredibly scary. Glenn’s girlfriend figured that he must’ve buried another dog that looks just like Mugsy, but he assured her that he was a 100% positive it was him because of the dog tags.

The man then decided to dig up the grave to go check – the grave was dug up.

“Mugsy was covered with dirt and his eyes were bloodshot,” Viola said. “Jack Russells are bred to burrow after foxes. I guess when he woke up in that hole, he just thought it was another old hole and he dug his way out, not knowing it was supposed to be his grave.”

The vets figured that Mugsy must’ve dug himself out of his own grave as soon as he woke up. He was likely unconscious for a while, which is why he had a weak heartbeat and his owner thought that he wasn’t breathing anymore.

“The vet said that probably after six hours, he actually dug his way out,” Viola said to Oprah. “His heart rate and everything was so slow that it was not obvious that he was alive. He had no vital signs.”

A truly unbelievable story, but one that luckily ended well.

You can check out the Oprah segment with the family and Mugsy below.

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Source: OWN