A four year-old girl braved the Siberian winter and threat of wild animals to walk five miles in a bid to save her gravely ill grandmother.

After she found her grandmother cold and motionless, Saglana Salchak,from the remote Republic of Tuva , was sent by her grandfather at 6am on 8 February to fetch medical help from the nearest settlement.

Undeterred by the early hour, threat of wolves and minus 33C frost, the girl followed a frozen river for three hours to raise the alarm.

It was in vain - medics pronounced her grandmother dead from a heart attack. Despite her ordeal, the young girl was only suffering from hypothermia.