VIDEO — Dog Helps Save Wheelchair-Bound Man from Drowning: ‘I Love Her’

A man in Port St. Lucie, Florida, named Harry Smith is 81-years-old but his beloved hero and friend is a mere nine-years-old.

The hero is his pup named Sarah, a beagle mix with a black coat who recently helped with the man’s rescue alongside several people, according to TCPalm.

“I love her. Always have, always will,” Smith declared. “She’s such a good dog. Everybody in this neighborhood loves her, and they all look out for her.”

Smith, who uses a wheelchair to get around, had taken Sarah for a stroll Monday by a pond on the west side of Southwest Airoso Boulevard.

However, a wheel on the chair “grabbed and spun me” and he went down an embankment, then fell into the water.

Sarah’s barking gained the attention of Edward Suhling, who was with Aby “Jacob” Chacko outside a house nearby.

“The dog was splashing in the water,” Suhling recalled. “So we both ran over here and I jumped in the water, and my buddy grabbed his arms and I grabbed his legs and we got him up on shore.”

Smith’s head was the only part of him visible above the water.

Canines have a remarkable sense of smell and hearing which enable them to pick up on clues when it comes to danger.

Smith said there was no way he could have climbed out by himself because his legs do not work.

When Chacko heard Smith crying out, he ran over and also alerted Officer Adam Doty and the three rescued him.

Following the incident, Chacko, Suhling, Smith, and Sarah gathered to talk about what happened but the one person missing was Doty.

Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro said he was at the hospital with his wife because she just had a baby.

According to Suhling, Smith was filled with relief when he saw the group coming his way.

“You could just see it in his face,” he recalled. “He thought he was dying.”

The Port St. Lucie Police Department later expressed its thanks for Smith’s dog and the others.

“And as the saying remains true…A man’s best friend is his dog,” the agency said:

To recognize their actions, Del Toro presented honorary badges to the men involved.