Richmond County deputy coroner rescues dog in Augusta Canal

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Social media was blowing up with a video showing a Richmond County deputy coroner saving a dog from the Augusta Canal last week.

Chad Cheek is being hailed as a hero by many in the county after saving the young dog.

At the Richmond County Coroner’s Office, they now have a new office pet named Lucas.

Cheek says it all started when he showed up to work and heard something weird.

“I heard a dog barking in the canal, which is kind of unusual. I hear dogs in the neighborhood’s not unusual, but hearing one in the canal is. And immediately I thought, well, what’s a dog doing in the water? I wanted to make sure that maybe the owner of the dog wasn’t in the water. So I walked over and took a look and the dog was basically begging for help, barking,” says Cheek.

Cheek walked over to the bridge right next to the coroner’s office on 8th Street and saw Lucas stuck on some Lilly pads in the canal. Cheek says he was shaking, sitting in the freezing water.

“I told him I was going to help him,” said Cheek.

Cheek tightroped across a pipe and was able to grab Lucas out of the water.

“He was very cold, very, very frightened and hanging on. And if he let loose, I don’t believe he could have made it trying to swim to the lily pads,” he said.

Backup was even called to make sure they were able to get to Lucas.

“The fire department showed up and they attempted a rescue with the lasso. And we attempted to build the dog bridge. But apparently, we weren’t very good at lassoing and building bridges,” said Cheek.

A firefighter gave up his jacket to help keep Lucas warm as they got him to dry land.

“He was my buddy until he met his new mom. Our amazing istrative assistant, Elise. And she’s now got her a great dog if the adoption goes through as planned,” said Cheek.

Cheek says to trust your gut when you hear something strange.

“I think a good lesson for everybody is when you hear somebody in need and the dog was actually barking like Lassie, those Lassie classic bark that helps, I’m in trouble or something bad is going wrong, probably ought to listen to it and try to help people,” he said.

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