Heroes come in all packages, and few of them actually wear costumes. A man in Russia wasn’t even wearing shoes or a shirt when he saved a life. The unknown hero braved the cold and snow and took at least one good chomp on the arm from a very scared and aggressive dog, but he persevered and saved this dog from an icy death.

A man named Alexander Levashov happened upon the scene and began filming the event as it unfolded.  It’s a very nerve-wracking 37 seconds of watching a poor, freezing dog struggle to stay above the surface of the ice before another man appears on screen to help. (It’s enough to drive a viewer mad – “Ugh, why is someone just filming and not helping??”)

The man trots out on the ice in his unshod feet, and lies down on his uncovered front to try to grab the dog.  The pup bares its teeth, and as the man tries to pull it out, it clamps down hard on his left arm.  However, this does not deter him from achieving his goal.  The dog snaps again, and may have bitten the man more than once as the camera pans above them and the pair drops out of view.

But again and again he tries to find a way to clutch the dog’s skin without getting bitten.  Finally, he grabs a hold of its scruff and plucks it out of the water.  The dog immediately scampers off away from what was very nearly its grave.  The daring rescuer also scuttles toward the man holding the camera, smiling and massaging a bit of snow onto his wound.

Levashov reported that emergency services arrived and provided first aid to the man who asked to remain nameless.  He says that the dog is a very unfriendly stray (ah, so that’s why no one rushed to help) who hunts the ducks in that pond.  Hopefully it found somewhere warm to dry off!