A man was recently caught on security camera heroically rushing to save his neighbor’s dog after its leash got caught in an elevator door, CNN reported.
The man, 27-year-old Johnny Mathis, wasted no time running to the poor pup’s rescue as soon as he realized the elevator doors had closed and the dog’s leash was still attached to its collar.
At the beginning of the video, a young woman can be seen walking her dog towards the apartment complex elevator.
Mathis had just exited the elevator himself, and happened to watch the pair as he was walking away.
“When she got on, I was looking at the dog, because it was a cute dog,” he told CNN . “I noticed the leash was kinda long, but I didn’t think it wasn’t going to make it on the elevator or anything.”
The doors of the elevator closed with the woman inside and the Pomeranian outside, trapping its leash.
Mathis noticed what had happened and immediately rushed to the dog, picking up the pup and hurrying to free it from its leash before it was too late.
“Instinct just kicked in, I just grabbed the leash,” he recalled.
In the video, you can see Mathis struggling with the leash, at one point even stretching it for more slack in an effort to give himself and the dog more time.
“There was so much fur, that’s why it took me a bit to get that lever off the collar,” he explained.
Thankfully, he finally manged to free the dog: “I let go, you could see that leash just shoot up to the top of the elevator.”
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Mathis said the minute the elevator doors closed, he could hear the dog’s owner frantically crying.
When she returned to the floor and found her beloved pup perfectly safe in Mathis’ arms, she couldn’t stop crying.
“I think she just said ‘thank you’ and we hugged but she was so overcome with emotion,” he said.
Watch the full video below.
Mathis posted the security footage of the dramatic incident online where it’s been viewed over 20 million times.
Many people online praised Mathis for his quick-thinking and his heroism in saving the dog’s life.
“You should be so proud of yourself for realizing what was about to happen and taking quick action,” this user wrote. “Those quick reflexes are reflective of a naturally good heart.”
However, some people in the comments accused the dog’s owner of being a bad pet parent.
Mathis posted a follow-up tweet to address these comments and defended the woman, insisting she couldn’t have immediately opened the elevator doors because it was already heading to another floor when she got inside.
When all is said and done, Mathis admitted he’s just thankful he was there to help prevent a terrible disaster.
“All this attention wasn’t my intention but I hope awareness to situations like this are brought to everyone’s attention,” he wrote. “It could happen to anyone. A second is all it takes.”
h/t: CNN
