Darren Thomas was calmly shaving inside his home in Cape Town, South Africa when he heard his Rottweiler, Cassius, crying loudly: He had fallen in the swimming pool and couldn’t get out or swim.
“I have had two Rotties and one thing they are renowned for doing is swimming… well not mine,” Darren wrote on his Instagram. “He cannot or will not swim and won’t no matter what we do.”
For many dog owners, their reaction would include jumping into the pool to save them. Darren, however, couldn’t really do that. This 40-year-old man became a gunshot victim 14 years ago which left him paraplegic, making a rescue mission all-the-more difficult. Although Darren recognized this, he was determined to help the 110-pound dog out of that swimming pool no matter what it took.
“I couldn’t just pull him out because he is too heavy,” he said. “I don’t have enough leverage in my chair because I’ll just go into the pool myself so I had to make another plan because he was getting tired from standing there.”
Instead of pulling him out, Darren found a way to guide him to the stairs so he could finally get out. While this definitely took a little bit of time, Darren’s method worked, making it a complete success. What a hero! And as for Cassius… we see some swimming lessons in the near future.
Watch Darren cleverly rescue his beloved Cassius below, and don’t forget to share with a friend.
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