As People reported, she tried to rescue the 55-pound dog but ended up falling in herself at about 6:30 pm that day.

According to a Facebook statement by the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, both the woman and her dog had been in the canal for 18 hours by the time deputies responded. And even then, they wouldn't have known she was there if not for a report by a passing train conductor.

By the time he arrived on the scene, his colleagues had already spotted the woman grabbing onto a tree and rescued the dog.

The woman had later made it clear to the responding officers that they had come at the last possible moment to save her.

As Wellton Police Sergeant Juan Salcido said, "She made the statement to me, and I know to deputies, that she was about to give up until she heard our sirens."

Because while deputies initially attempted to pull her out of the canal using the strap we see here, that strap quickly broke.

And while one responder tried using a bungee cord-like line instead, the deputy who brought the leash threw it around her like a lasso and told her to keep it around her body.

With that, police were finally able to pull her to safety.

In Salcido's words, "Her body told the story of her constantly fighting. She had abrasions to her whole arms. She had abrasions to her legs. She had a sunburn. She looked very exhausted to the point where she couldn't stand on her own two feet." 

But as hard-won as that fight was, it was thanks to her strength that she and her dog were able to hold on as long as they did.

h/t: People