A heartwarming video of a man risking his life by jumping into a half-frozen lake to rescue a drowning dog has gone viral on social media. The video, taken at Sloan Lake in Colorado, USA, shows the brave man fearlessly jumping into the lake to save Loki, a husky dog who was struggling to get out of the freezing water.
Instagram user, Holly Morphew, who shared the video informed that the dog ran into the lake while it was chasing geese. Without thinking of his own safety, the man, now identified as Jason Skidgel, took off his clothes and dived in to save the dog.
She explained, ''Yesterday my friend and I went for a walk around Sloan's Lake. We saw a dog take off from the opposite side of the lake full speed ahead chasing geese. We watched in horror knowing the ice would soon run out. It did, and the dog went down into the lake. It struggled for a long time as we helplessly looked on, praying it could break enough ice to get to the shore. But it was getting tired and we could see the struggle wasn't going to last much longer. We called 911 and the fire department was on its way. We weren't sure their rescue would be fast enough. Then, a #hero took off his clothes and went in to save it. I am so happy to say he did, and both he and the dog were ok.''
Watch the video here:
The video shows the man breaking through the ice to reach the dog. Once he grabbed the dog, he helped it swim back to the shore much to the happiness of the onlookers who were cheering for them throughout.
After the duo was out of the water, the crowd rushed to him and helped him get warm by putting their clothes and jackets over him. Mr. Skidgel who was overwhelmed with the love and support posted a video thanking them.
''I wanted y'all to see how humanity came together. I may have saved Loki's life, but they saved mine. Thank you to all!''
Here is the video:
Internet users were moved by the man's gesture and called him a ''hero'' in the comments section. One user wrote, ''You are a hero, and I'm so happy to see these people shedding to give you the best they could to help. Thank you to all involved, it's heartwarming to see the good side of humankind for once, sad it took a tragedy to show it.''
Another commented, ''Brave and beautiful! Risking your life for someone else's pup then more strangers get involved literally taking the shirts off their backs to save you. A reminder for all of us to be the good we wish to see!''
A third added, ''This made me cry. You are amazing and so is every one that helped. This shows there are still decent people in the world.''
