Hotel Hero Saves Dog from Elevator Peril

You’re at a hotel, and you see a cute little dog sitting outside an elevator. The owner, who is holding the dog’s leash, has no idea that the dog is still outside elevator. You see the doors close and watch as the elevator begins to ascend. What do you do?

If you’re like most dog lovers, you do everything you can to save the dog in the next few critical moments, and if you’re Ben Duke of Greenville, South Carolina, you succeed.

Last month, a small dog named Boo Boo narrowly escaped a very dangerous situation thanks to the efforts of Ben Duke, general manager of the Rodeway Inn.

Duke entered the same hall Boo Boo was waiting in just in time to see the elevator doors close on the dog’s leash. He immediately ran to pick up Boo Boo and struggled to find a way to free him.

As the elevator began to move, it took Boo Boo along with it. Duke lifted Boo Boo to keep the pressure off his neck as the leash began to pull upward with the elevator. In the precious few seconds he had before the slack between the doors and the dog disappeared entirely, Duke gave up on his attempts to unhook the leash. He tugged on Boo Boo’s leash and was somehow able to snap it just in the nick of time, undoubtedly saving the dog’s life.

Apparently, Boo Boo had wandered out of the elevator before the doors closed, leaving the unsuspecting owner unaware until it was too late. Once Boo Boo’s owner was reunited with the lucky dog after Duke’s rescue, he shed tears of joy after learning that Boo Boo was shaken but otherwise unharmed following the incident.

Unfortunately for Duke, it would seem that no good deed goes unpunished. While he was trying to get Boo Boo free, the dog, confused by what was going on, scratched Duke during the ordeal. However, Duke says that he understands why the dog acted the way he did in middle of such a hectic situation, and he doesn’t fault Boo Boo for the scratches.

“The dog was scared, and fought me pretty hard. In fact, he scratched me pretty good on my face. I don’t blame him—it was pretty scary,” Duke told WAPT News.

After viewing the hotel’s CCTV footage of everything that happened, Duke posted the video to his Facebook page, where it received thousands of views.

Reflecting on what transpired that day, Duke remains modest about his part in the rescue.

“Everybody is calling me a hero, but I can’t imagine the other outcome. I just did what you are supposed to do in this situation.”

While there’s little doubt that just about anyone would want to save a dog from danger, Ben Duke was actually able to do it, and that makes him a hero in our book.