A horse named Cody, who received serious burns after getting caught in raging wildfires near Knysna, South Africa, has survived a 16 day journey back to his home farm.

Passers-by found Cody limping along with serious injuries.

Amid the fires on June 7, Cody, along with four other ponies belonging to Karen Rademeyer, were chased into a nearby plantation because they couldn’t be wrangled in time to escape the fire.

The plantation was not initially on fire, but the wind reportedly changed direction causing flames to burn the plantation burnt for four days – trapping the horses.

Rademeyer didn’t give up on her lost horses, and on a daily basis she used thermal imaging, aircraft and drones to attempt to locate the animals.

She got a stroke of luck on Friday morning, when someone spotted  Cody.

“People were crying when they noticed the condition he was in when they saw him about 100 meters from the farm,” Rademeyer told Netwerk 24.

“My phone started ringing and people were leaving messages when they noticed him.  He was very thin and it also seemed as if he had lost his vision, but that didn’t deter him from walking to his spot on the farm," she said. “It was very emotional to see him like this, but I just realized how determined he had been. We decided to administer treatment and help where we could. He is doing surprisingly well. The vet is very happy with his progress.”

The other four horses – Cheeky, Bella, Milu and Déjà Vu – are still missing.