Even though he’s not wearing a cape, but a brown uniform, this kind-hearted man is hailed as a hero, after his quick-thinking actions saved a helpless dog’s life. It was just a normal day at the office for Ryan Arens, a UPS driver. While delivering packages in Bozeman, Montana, he heard a strange noise coming from an icy pond he was driving by.
Thinking someone might be in need of help, the deliveryman decided to investigate. “It was like a kind of cry for help,” the man told The Dodo. “But I couldn’t really see what was going on. “I got out of my truck…and then I saw a dog in the pond.”
The temperatures were bellow zero degrees and frightened dog seemed stuck there without any chance to get out all by himself. It’s when Ryan realized he needs to do something. “My heart was thumping, Ryan said. “I got a little scared and nervous knowing that I was probably going to do something stupid. I stripped down to my boxer briefs, took off my uniform and my hat and everything, and left my socks on knowing how sharp ice can be. Then I slid the boat out onto the ice, using it to distribute my weight.”
Then, the heroic driver took a boat and headed to the exhausted dog. In the same time, Ryan had to be extremely careful, so the ice not to break under him. “My biggest fear was falling through the ice and not being able to get out.” But that’s exactly what happened. “I went down, and at that point, I just swam out to the dog and grabbed her collar — thank God she had a collar on — and swam back to the ice,” Ryan recalls.
Meantime some neighbors gathered there and watch the dramatic scene. Somehow, Ryan managed to put the poor animal in the boat and then haded back to shore. Here, the witnesses help them out. “We took the dog inside the older guy’s house and got in the shower together to warm up,” he said.
“Animals are my weakness. It was the highlight of my 14-year UPS career,” the hero said. But the most heartwarming moment happened the next day, when accidentally Ryan had to deliver a package to the dog’s owner he saved the day before.
“She was in his vehicle and she saw me coming down the driveway and she just went crazy,” Ryan said. “The man said, ‘Thank you so much, I never really got a chance to thank you.’ And then he said, ‘Would you like to meet Sadie?’ And I said, ‘I would love to meet Sadie.’ […] and when he let her out she ran to me. She must have remembered me. It sure made me feel good.”
(h/t: Great Falls Tribune)
