Jason Skidgel has always been a huge dog lover, so when he saw a dog fall into a frozen lake after chasing some geese, he didn’t hesitate to do what was needed to get the dog to safety.
Within seconds, Skidgel was running through the freezing water, trying to save the dog, Loki, from drowning. A bunch of people watched from shore, all holding their breath, hoping that both Skidgel and Loki would soon be back on land.
Scroll down to watch video
Skidgel used his hands and body to break through the ice and make it to where Loki was treading water. He then grabbed the freezing pup, and the two of them helped each other back to shore.
As soon as Skidgel was out of the water, the crowd rushed to him, doing everything they could to help warm him up again. Loki tried to help too — he kept trying to go over to make sure his rescuer was OK.
People removed their shirts and coats to give to Skidgel and used anything they could find as blankets. Skidgel was freezing and a little shaken up, but he and Loki were both back on land, and that’s all that really mattered.
“I may have saved Loki’s life, but they saved mine,” Skidgel wrote on Instagram.
Even though Loki wasn’t his dog, Skidgel did everything he could to help him, because that’s just what dog people do.