In 1925, during a particularly harsh winter, an outbreak of diphtheria hit the city of Nome in Alaska with a high projected mortality rate given that part of the population, including children, had not been previously exposed to the illness. The only treatment that was available at the time was the administration of a diphtheria antitoxin serum which could be extracted from horses, but the stock in Nome was insufficient and expired. Given that the city was isolated, and the route to other settlements was unforgiving in the winter, they deployed 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs to run 675 miles across Alaska to deliver the anti-diphtheria toxin. This emergency delivery is now known as the ‘Great Race of Mercy’. Among the mushers was Leonhard Sappala, a sled dog trainer who was selected to head the most difficult segment of the trail, a one-day shortcut through treacherous terrain that could cost him his life, along with those of the sled dogs and the loss of the serum if they journeyed on the wrong patch of ice. His 8-year-old daughter named Sigrid – his only child – was at risk from the outbreak and he did not hesitate to take on the task. The expedition was a success, as they were able to bring a stock of antidiphtheria serum to save the city through this relay race. The team received headline news coverage and the lead dogs, Togo and Balto, became national heroes. The painting shows Leonhard Sappala crouching next to the sled dog Balto, here represented with the anthropomorphic head of a young girl suffering from Diptheria, with the characteristic swollen neck that the illness can induce due to enlarged lymph nodes (also known as ‘Bulls Neck’). Sappala is seen placing his fingers in Balto’s mouth, which is the standard procedure to check a patient’s throat for signs of the illness, while behind them is the horse from which the antidiphtheria serum was extracted.