For the first bit of uplifting news of 2020, one doctor from Florida, Mohammad Awad, has saved the life of a dog.
The doctor who is based in Tampa Bay, had just finished up a Monday shift, when he arrived back at his apartment building following a quick visit to his parents’ house for food.
It was completely the right place, right time kind of encounter.
As Awad explained to CNN, “My neighbor just got off the elevator with her dog and right when she got off, I could see the leash was still inside the elevator door.”
He shared the surveillance footage from the apartment building’s security camera to his Facebook page. In the video, viewers can see the exact moment that the elevator begins to rise to the next level.
“It was all slow motion, but it all happened so fast,” Awad said. “Before I knew it the dog got launched into the air and I jumped into action.”
In the video, Awad drops his plate of leftovers and rushes to the elevator where the dog is stuck and dangling off the ground by the leash.
“I tried to break open the leash on my initial attempt and it didn’t work. I tried to break it with my strength and I just couldn’t do it,” Awad said.
In the video he stumbles back, but quickly tries again.
Awad revealed that he could hear the dog make sounds of whimpering and choking, and he was scared that it only had seconds left.
But thankfully his efforts paid off when the leash finally snapped and the dog fell to the floor.
“I re-watched the video and I didn’t feel like it was me in the video, but it happened so naturally,” Awad said.
He added that he hopes this will serve as a reminder to pet owners to always be aware of their surroundings when getting into elevators in order to avoid similar accidents from happening in the future.
What a hero!
