After being in the right place at the right time, a dog was able to pluck a man out of a choppy river and pull him to safety.
Mason Ringer and two co-workers were refurbishing a boat dock on the Okatie River in South Carolina when they decided to spend their lunch break traveling down the river in a small boat. But when the boat capsized, all three men fell into the cold, choppy waters.
theweek.com
One of the men was able to swim to shore on his own. Ringer’s other co-worker was picked up by a nearby boat after getting stuck waste deep in mud.
However, Ringer had been swept away by the river’s strong current and found himself struggling to stay afloat in the cold water. Fortunately, a 7-year old golden retriever named Lucky was watching from a nearby dock and could see that Ringer was in trouble.
“I don’t think he had 30 minutes left. He was convulsing and shaking violently,” recalls Lucky’s owner, Jason DuBose. “He was not very coherent so he was definitely in the throws of hypothermia.”
Moving on pure instinct, Lucky jumped into the water and swam out toward Ringer. He managed to grab a hold of Lucky’s collar and the dog was able to pull Ringer to a nearby dock.
houstonchronicle.com
“He was essentially going under and he was yelling for help. The dog was on the dock and jumped in the water and swam out to him,” describes DuBose. “He grabbed a hold of it and it turned around and swam him back to a different dock where he was able to get out.”
First responders called it a miracle that all three men survived the incident. Two of the men were healthy enough to return to work the next day.
Ringer says that after Lucky saved his life he’s going to buy the dog “a big ol’ steak.”