Delivery drivers are absolute heroes, is a sentence I never thought I’d write.
As is the standard in the UK, you’re lucky if your courier delivers your parcel to your door, instead of slipping the ‘We’re sorry you were out when we arrived’ note through your door, without any attempt to ring the doorbell, as you wait for your latest purchase off the internet.
Fortunately, for the people of Bozeman, Montana, their delivery drivers not only deliver packages, but one has gone to heroic lengths to save a pupper in distress.
Ryan Arens was on his usual route before Christmas when he heard a dog crying. The sun was setting, so he couldn’t see where the sound was coming from. He made his delivery and then drove to the other side of a pond.
Another man was in a rowboat on the pond, trying to release the dog by chipping away at the ice.
He told USA Today:
I could see the dog trapped about 10-15 feet off of shore, with ice all around it.
I stripped to my boxers and got the guy out of the boat. Then, I slid the boat out onto the ice, using it to distribute my weight. I shimmed out to where the ice was thin.
So thin, Ryan crashed through it, falling from the boat and into the freezing water. Because he was already wet, Arens said he swam for the dog. ‘She was starting to go under,’ he added.
Ryan grabbed the dog’s collar and swam for the ice, sliding the dog up onto the surface to shore. A bystander handed him a blanket.
He added:
We took the dog inside the older guy’s house and got in the shower together to warm up. I knew someone had to get to her. She wasn’t going to make it.
Despite the unplanned dip in frozen waters and cuts to his legs, Arens completed his route, delivering 20 more packages.
Ryan said:
Animals are my weakness. It was the highlight of my 14-year UPS career.
The UPS driver found out where the dog’s owner lived, as he had a parcel to deliver to him. As he walked up to his house, he saw the dog, Sadie, in the guy’s pick-up.
Ryan said of their reunion:
She was freaking out, and when he let her out she ran to me. She must have remembered me. It sure made me feel good.
This dog had a whole lot of life left in her, and I’m really glad I was able to act when I did. She’s a sweetheart
And so are you Ryan.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.