Good boy! Woody the Golden Retriever leaps into action and saves a man from drowning in a South Carolina river

  • Woody the Golden Retriever just so happened to be near the dock where 24-year-old Mason Ringer was drowning in the Okatie River, South Carolina 
  • The dog jumped into the choppy, 58-degree (14 C) water and pulled Ringer toward a nearby dock 
  • A Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report says Ringer and his two co-workers were refurbishing another dock and had gone out in a john boat
  • The three men are all said to be out of harms way and two went back to work 
  • Ringer says he owes Woody a big steak after the 'miracle' 

Forget sticks: A seven-year-old yellow Labrador retriever leaped into a South Carolina river and fetched a man whose boat had capsized.

The Island Packet reports it was pure luck Woody was outside Wednesday when 24-year-old Mason Ringer was struggling in the Okatie River. 

'I don't think he had 30 minutes left. He was convulsing and shaking violently,' said the dog's owner, Jason DuBose, to WJCL. 'He was not very coherent so he was definitely in the throws of hypothermia' 

Woody the Golden Retriever just so happened to be near the dock where 24-year-old Mason Ringer was drowning in the Okatie River, South Carolina

Woody the Golden Retriever just so happened to be near the dock where 24-year-old Mason Ringer was drowning in the Okatie River, South Carolina

The dog jumped into the choppy, 58-degree (14 C) water and pulled Ringer toward a nearby dock
The dog jumped into the choppy, 58-degree (14 C) water and pulled Ringer toward a nearby dock

The dog jumped into the choppy, 58-degree (14 C) water and pulled Ringer toward a nearby dock

The dog jumped into the choppy, 58-degree (14 C) water and pulled Ringer toward a nearby dock.

DuBose added: 'He was essentially going under and he was yelling for help. The dog was on the dock and jumped in the water and swam out to him.

'He grabbed a hold of it and it turned around and swam him back to a different dock where he was able to get out.' 

Jason DuBose is the owner of the dog and was with Woody when he saved Ringer

Jason DuBose is the owner of the dog and was with Woody when he saved Ringer

DuBose added: 'He was essentially going under and he was yelling for help. The dog was on the dock and jumped in the water and swam out to him'

DuBose added: 'He was essentially going under and he was yelling for help. The dog was on the dock and jumped in the water and swam out to him'

A Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report says Ringer and his two co-workers were refurbishing another dock and had gone out in a john boat during their lunch break.

When the boat overturned, one man managed to swim and get out of the river, while the other was pulled out by three men in a boat who responded to a passerby's emergency call.

I don't think he had 30 minutes left. He was convulsing and shaking violently. He was not very coherent so he was definitely in the throws of hypothermia  

Ringer says he owes Woody a big steak after the 'miracle.'

All men were reported out of harms way, with two returning to work the next day.