Cecil Williams smiles as he pets his guide dog Orlando in his hospital bed following a fall onto subway tracks from the platform at 145th Street, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, in New York.
A dog jumped onto the tracks at a New York City subway station Tuesday in an attempt to save his blind owner, after the man passed out and fell off the platform. No, the brave canine isn’t Lassie. He’s a black labrador by the name of Orlando.
Cecil Williams, 61, was on his way to the dentist when he lost consciousness and fell onto the tracks with a train approaching quickly approaching, the Associated Press reports, but both man and dog escaped mostly unharmed as the train passed over them.
Witnesses said the guide dog started barking as Williams began falling and jumped onto the tracks to revive him. “He was kissing him, trying to get him to move,” Matthew Martin told the New York Post.
Commuters called out for help. The train’s operator slowed the train, and Williams was roused by emergency responders after the train passed safely over him and his dog.
“The dog saved my life … I’m feeling amazed,” Williams said. “I feel that God, the powers that be, have something in store for me. They didn’t take me away this time. I’m here for a reason.”
Williams was taken to the hospital with Orlando where he is expected to recover in full.
[AP]