A dog saved a drowning man, Mason Ringer, by leaping into a cold South Carolina river and pulling the distressed 24-year-old to safety after his boat capsized last week.
It was by pure chance that the 7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, Woody, was nearby when the boat Ringer and his friends were in overturned, The Island Packet reported.
"One of the guys went to stand up to change his position in the boat, and the wind came and the boat flipped over and put all of us in the water," Ringer told Inside Edition.
The other occupants managed to make it back to safety but Ringer, who was struggling against strong currents and icy waters, nearly gave up.
"I rolled over on my back and I closed my eyes and said a prayer to God asking him to help me somehow," he said.
At that very moment Woody came to the rescue.
"As he was coming back across the river, trying to get to the dock he started cramping up yelling for help, he was pretty much done," recalled Jason Dubose, a boat captain who works at Oldfield Outfitters nearby, according to WSAV-TV.
"The dog jumped off the dock, swam out to him, he was able to grab a hold of it and he was able to swim back and he was able to grab the dock."
Meanwhile a woman who had been walking nearby witnessed the incident and immediately called the community's security office for help.
Woody has since gained widespread attention for his heroic efforts.
In an interview with the Island Packet, the dog's owner explained that Woody was adopted from a humane society in 2011 after spending time at another shelter in Florida.
"He likes to go in the water and pick up rocks," said Susan Atkinson, adding that although Woody was afraid of loud noises, he had "bravery in other ways."
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