Tom Hardy Writes the Most Touching Tribute to His Late Dog Woody

"He was an Angel. And he was my best friend," the actor blogs on Tumblr

By Jamie Bland Jun 09, 2017 6:24 PMTags

Tom Hardy posted a touching tribute on his Tumblr page honoring the friendship he shared with his dog Woody, who passed away earlier this week.

Properly named Woody Woodstock Yamaduki Hardy, the dog passed away at the age of 6 due to an aggressive form of polymyositis, an inflammatory muscle disease.

Along with a 10-minute video of photos of the two best friends set to Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free," Tom also posted a heartfelt letter to his best friend. The candid letter talked about the many lives Woody impacted, what he personally meant to Tom and the story of how the two met.

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Tom Hardy Loves Dogs

"I first saw Woodstock running across a turnpike we were turning onto late one dark night in Peachtree Georgia Atlanta," the Legend actor started his post. "He was a stray. 11 weeks old. Oh No we thought. Quickly Go get that dog not even sure it was a dog. Actually. We stopped the car. It was pitch black literally. I used my phone to light the road in case a car came round the turnpike and couldn't see me."

While at the time it seemed all hope was lost for the precious pooch running toward a busy highway, but then Tom had an idea that not only saved Woody's life, but brought the two together.

"I panicked a little, because I couldn't help it had no name to shout and now it was close to the freeway. I put my fingers to my mouth and I whistled. Loud as I could," he continued. "It ran straight at me and hit me around the legs I couldn't see but I could hear the distress and I reached down thinking I'm going to get bitten. It was so noisy shrieking. I snatched out expecting to feel teeth and grabbed a fist full of soft neck fur lifted what was actually an incredibly light weight up to my face and shone my phone at it. It was a very small bundle literally sagging from its neck fur with two big brown eyes staring straight into mine."

The Academy Award nominee brought the newfound pup into the car, where he quickly fell asleep on Tom's shoulder.

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He recalled the evening as one of the best nights of his life. "I'll never forget that night. It was wonderful," he wrote. "One minute he was almost dead next terrified. Then picked up by strangers then after He had a power nap in the car, the next he's walking with his bandy leg John Wayne strut under the strip lighted aisles of this massive pet store happy and playful."

Along with the sweet story of how they met, Tom shared the hilarious accounts of how he came up with the name Woody Woodstock Yamaduki Hardy.

"Woodstock" came from the night they met. After being asked if the dog was a boy or a girl, he said it was a boy because, "I can feel his Woodstock."

"Yamaduki" found its way in the name the morning after the rescue. "He ate a turd and we chased him to drop it, but he gobbled it down because he must have thought we wanted to eat it," the actor wrote. "So he ate it as fast as he could."

Amongst the funny memories, Tom shared some touching words about his pet. "He was an Angel. And he was my best friend. We went through so much together."

He closed out the letter with the following:

"Thank you Woody for choosing to find us. We will love you and be with you and you with us forever. Never ever ever forgotten. Your Boy tom xxx I love you beyond words. To the moon and back again and again to infinity and beyond. Run with Max now and the Angels. I will see you when I get there. With all of me I love you. Always Thank you for Your love beautiful boy."