Megan the Rottweiler was hailed a life-saver after opening a door to paramedics as her seriously-ill owner lay unconscious.
Three-year-old Megan pulled off her prize party trick and bounced on the handle until the door sprung open after her master owner Gary Gregory had passed out.
Gary suffered serious internal bleeding – and paramedics say it’s likely he wouldn’t have survived without her help.
Gary, 32, said: “There’s no doubt about it, Megan saved my life.
“By letting the paramedics in, they were able to work on me. Without her, it would have been a different story.
“We always found it handy that she could let us in when we’d forgotten our keys but now we realise we couldn’t live without her.
“She’s a real hero, she deserves a Pride of Britain award.”
Gary, a former sales manager, had collapsed at his home in Felixstowe, Suffolk, and despite managing to crawl to the phone to call 999, he then passed out again.
As his partner Sean Nicholls, 49, was out working as a coach driver, Megan and his other dogs – black labrador Heidi and Hugo the pug – licked his face to try and bring him round.
But paramedics struggled to get to him as the front door appeared to be locked and they thought the dog jumping up inside was trying to scare them off.
It was only when a neighbour told them to push the handle down that the external door lock was freed and Megan was able to let them inside.
Gary said: “It’s just always something Megan has been able to do. It’s really handy when you go out and forget your keys but this time it was life-changing.
“They thought she was jumping up at the door to scare them off when actually she was trying to let them in because she knew I was in trouble.
“When they realised, they were so impressed. They were considering calling the police to come and break down the door but by then it could have been too late.
“People give Rottweilers a bad name but Megan’s such a gentle giant. I’m so grateful to her.”
Gary began to feel unwell earlier last month, the day after undergoing a hospital endoscopy to look for gallstones in his pancreas.
He was sent home afterwards but woke the following day feeling sick and dizzy.
After getting out of bed, he collapsed, cracking open his head as he fell.
When he came round he managed to call for help before texting Sean to tell him he loved him.
But as he lay unconscious, Gary passed out again as his blood pressure rocketed and his body went into shock.
He said: “I remember thinking that I was going to die, and I had to tell Sean how much he meant to me.
“I’d never had this feeling before but I was weak and struggling to stay awake, I was convinced I was a gonner.
“Megan and our other two dogs were licking my face, as if they knew something was wrong.
“I don’t remember anything after that, the next thing I knew I was waking up in hospital.”
Doctors found Gary had suffered a tear as a result of the endoscopy and told him he was hemorrhaging internally.
They gave him adrenaline to stop the bleeding and observed him for 48 hours for further signs of damage.
He’s now waiting for an operation next month to have the stones removed.
In the meantime, Megan is keeping a close eye on Gary to make sure he doesn’t come to any further harm.
Gary added: “She is a superstar. When I was in the hospital she was pacing up and down waiting for me to come back and since I’ve been back she hasn’t left my side.
“It just goes to show that dogs can sense when there’s something wrong and they want to do what they can to put it right.
“As long as Megan’s around we know we’ll be alright.”
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