A jogger suffered a sudden heart attack and collapsed on a trail running parallel to railroad tracks. Unconscious, he rolled down an embankment and landed on the tracks as a train approached slowly in the distance.
A stray pit bull living near the railroad witnessed the man fall. The dog, later named Hero, ran to the unconscious jogger and grabbed his jacket with its teeth.
Hero desperately dragged the 180-pound man away from the tracks. Using all its strength, it pulled the man bit by bit off the rails. Surveillance footage shows Hero straining with all its might as the train blew its horn and drew closer.
At the last possible second, Hero pulled the man clear of the tracks. The train rushed past. Afterwards, Hero lay beside the man, licking his face until he regained consciousness a few minutes later.
While being treated at the hospital, the jogger learned that Hero was a stray dog abandoned months earlier. He immediately adopted Hero, saying the dog had given him a second chance at life.
Animal control officers stated that Hero’s actions were deliberate and heroic. The dog risked being hit by the train to save a complete stranger, displaying courage and compassion that put those who abandoned it to shame.
