Dogs are man’s best friend, right?
In one case in the Lowcountry, that is absolutely true.
In Okatie this week, three men don’t just have a boater to thank, but another, four legged good Samaritan who just may have saved a life.
“She thought she heard somebody hollering for help,” said Jason DuBose.
She was a woman walking down Oldfield’s nature trail at the right time. Hearing the right thing.
Jason Dubose, a boat captain who works at Oldfield Outfitters nearby, came over to help.
“We were just getting ready to leave when there was a little bit of a break in the wind and heard a call from across the river, someone hollering..they looked like they were in distress,” said Dubose. “We saw in the marsh grass a red speck.”
That’s when Dubose hopped in his boat to save the day.
“(I) found someone in the marsh,” said Dubose. “They were waist deep in the mud. Water up their chest and obviously in hypothermia, shuttering, shivering, having a hard time speaking.”
“We thought he was the only one in the water when he finally got it out that there were two more people missing.”
“He (the man in the water) had maybe 30 minutes left, and this was 25 minutes later we went out looking for people. So I’m thinking we had to find these folks as quickly as possible.”
It turns out the John Boat they were riding in flipped, and tossed all three in the river.
“Sustained 25 mph winds, gusting to over 30, air temperature in the low 50’s, water temperature in the 60’s.”
One man was able to pull himself to shore, the other struggling. In danger. Until Woody the dog came to the rescue.
“As he was coming back across the river, trying to get to the dock he started cramping up yelling for help, he was pretty much done,” remembered Dubose. “The dog jumped off the dock, swam out to him, he was able to grab a hold of it and he was able to swim back and he was able to grab the dock.”
Woody and his owner live in Savannah but happened to be at Oldfield that day. They didn’t even know the man he saved. That didn’t stop him from jumping into action to save Mason Ringer’s life.
After Jason Dubose told the story on Facebook, more than 3000 people have shared it. They are calling everyone involved, woman, man and beast, heroes.
“Are you heroes?”
“Naw,” smiles Dubose.
“I know it sounds cliche, but I think anybody put in that position would do the same thing. So I don’t think we are heroes. The dog, yeah the dog is a hero,” he laughs. “Absolutely. but us, no.”
All three men are doing fine. Mason Ringer, the man Woody saved, says he can’t thank everyone involved enough. And he may have to buy Woody a steak.
