Loyal kelpie keeps owner alive following car crash

For four days and nights, a loyal kelpie kept his owner Herbert Schutz safe and warm after a car crash left Schutz pinned beneath his vehicle.

Schutz, 76, crashed his Honda four-wheel-drive on his property at Rylstone, New South Wales, Australia, last Thursday. When Schutz climbed out of his vehicle, it rolled and trapped him.

Help didn't arrive until Monday.

Fortunately, Schutz's dog, a kelpie named Boydy, was there to keep him warm, lying on his owner's chest though the freezing nights at the base of the Nullo Moutains.

Schutz is adamant that his dog saved his life.

"He was very with it, I was pretty surprised how good he was after four or so days lying there," Schutz's neighbour, Eric Merrett, who found Schutz pinned under the vehicle, told the Daily Telegraph. "He said his dog lay on him and kept him warm a lot of the time."

''Even when we found him, the dog ran straight to his side and cuddled up to him, he didn't want to leave him even then,'' Merritt told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Schutz was taken to the hospital suffering numerous fractures and broken bones. Some serious internal injuries were likely the result of being accidentally trampled by horses who visited the wreckage.

On Tuesday, he was listed in stable condition.

Schutz's daughter, Heika, told the Daily Telegraph that her father is in good spirits and is recovering from the ordeal.

"He is in very good care and is conscious and lucid at the moment, which is amazing given what he has been through," she said on Tuesday.

Heroic Boydy is being cared for by neighbours until Schutz returns home.