Man uses his own body to cushion dog's fall from building

(Image credit: iStock)

João Augusto was about to walk into his apartment building in Brazil earlier this month when he heard a bark high above him. Looking up, he saw that a neighbor's shih tzu, Mel, had escaped onto a ninth-floor balcony and was about to slip through the railings. As Augusto shouted at the building's caretaker to get a sheet to catch the dog, Mel tumbled over the edge. The dog plummeted 100 feet, but Augusto managed to cushion Mel's fall with his own body. Augusto was knocked to the ground; Mel scampered off unharmed. "It was a happy ending," he says. The Week Staff