HARBOR SPRINGS, MICHIGAN — The year 2017 started out horribly for one Michigan man, who spent New Year’s Day injured and helpless in the snow. Luckily, it was man’s best friend to the rescue.

The Petoskey News Review reports that around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, Bob (the newspaper did not publish his name citing “privacy reasons.”) ran out in his slippers and pajamas to get another log for his fire. Halfway there, he slipped and fell on the ice, breaking his neck, which rendered him paralyzed.

Unable to move, he screamed for help. But with the nearest neighbor a quarter mile away, it was his 5-year-old golden retriever Kelsey that ran to his side.

The temperature dipped to freezing, but Kelsey stayed by Bob, barking for help and licking his face and hands to keep him warm.

The 64-year-old lost consciousness, but Kelsey’s howling eventually got the attention of a neighbor, who finally discovered Bob 20 hours later.

He was rushed to the hospital, where a doctor performed emergency surgery to save him. Miraculously, he didn’t have frostbite, and is recovering nicely — a feat he claims he owes to two heroes: his dog, and his doctor.