K-9 saves World War II veteran's life

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - A World War II veteran has a K-9 officer to thank for saving him after he fell and was caught hanging upside down in a well house.

Nikon, an eight-year-old Czech Shepherd, with the Winston-Salem Police Department was responding with his partner on a call to help locate a driver who fled an accident on Clemmonsville Road.

"As we got close to the wood line something got Nikon's attention," said partner Officer Karen Simmons. "As we got closer to a home, we noticed a walker turned over beside of a well house."

Inside the well house Nikon found the veteran trapped.

"He had fallen inside the well and was actually hanging upside down."

It's believed the man had been hanging upside down for more than two hours with his foot wedged around a small ladder.

"We were just in the right place at the right time," said Simmons. "[K-9 officers] hear things and smell things that we wouldn't know were there if it weren't for them and it's just amazing the capability they have."

The veteran was checked out at a local hospital and is expected to be OK.