A woman and her beloved dog are alive today thanks to a good Samaritan who saved them from a frigid river in Stanislaus County, California. According to CBS Sacramento, the trouble began when Chanda Benson’s dog Gunther jumped into the Stanislaus River to retrieve a stick.

The miscalculation

Gunther’s quest to retrieve a stick went awry when he hit the water and was swept away by the swift current. Benson was not about to let her dog be carried away, so she went into the water as well. Like Gunther, Benson did not expect the river to be moving as swiftly as it was. She was also shocked by how cold it was – she told the news agency, “I had only been in there a few minutes and my hands were going numb.”

Benson was able to grab hold of her dog’s collar, and a tree branch…but the cold was taking its toll. She said, “I could feel myself getting colder, it was getting colder because it was getting darker. And I thought hypothermia is going to be what gets us.”

A good Samaritan saves the day

Benson began to call for help – thankfully, someone heard her cries and took action. Gerardo Hernandez heard Benson’s calls for help and he began looking for whoever was in trouble. He told CBS News, “I just saw a head above the water, I saw another figure. I couldn’t really tell what it was. I guess my adrenaline started kicking in.”

Hernandez was able to locate a stick which was long enough for Benson to grab hold of – thanks to his quick thinking, Gunther and his owner were able to get out of the cold river with little more than a few scratches.

(Screenshot via CBS Sacramento)