When kind-hearted James Lynes jumped in to Wootton Creek to save a puppy on Saturday, little did he think he would end up at the centre of a multi-agency rescue operation.
James, who is registered blind, was walking with friends around the creek on Saturday afternoon when his friend Debbie's five-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel got stuck in the creek mud.
Animal loving James jumped in to pull the pup out but quickly became stuck himself.
"It was like quicksand...I was slowly sinking into it and there was no way I could get myself out," he told the Isle of Wight County Press.
James was stuck for over an hour, progressively getting colder and more traumatised.
His friends called 999 and fire crews managed to pull him out with the aid of ropes, with Betsy the pup also brought to safety.
He said: "The paramedics had to cut my clothes off and wrap me in a foil blanket before I was taken to St Mary's Hospital to be checked out.
"It was obviously taken very seriously as Coastguard personnel were also in attendance.
"It's been made out that I was stupid but I only did what any animal lover would do.
"I have had guide dogs in the past and am waiting for another one so I know dogs are man's best friends."
James, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa and has no vision in one eye and deteriorating sight in the other, has only lived on the Island for three years but is already well-known for his volunteer work with Friends of the Animals, Mountbatten and The Salvation Army.
It was a group of friends from Friends of the Animals he was with on Saturday.
He said: "I first started coming on holidaying to the island 14 years ago with my first late guide dog, Amos, and moved here in 2018 and I am living the dream.
"However, Saturday was very traumatic but I would like to thank the emergency services for rescuing me from a nasty situation."
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