Photos show overjoyed dog thanking firefighter who saved his life after freak accident in New Hampshire

A "lucky pupper" is showing his appreciation for the firefighter who saved his life after a freak accident in New Hampshire last month.

Fire officials say Ziggy the dog was playing outside when he cut his leg on a solar light that was buried beneath the snow. A dog sitter, who was watching Ziggy while his owners were away on vacation, saw that he was bleeding heavily and started to drive him to the vet.

But as Ziggy's bleeding got worse, the dog sitter decided to stop by a Campton-Thornton fire station and ring the doorbell to help. That's where firefighter and EMT Paul Spring worked with first responder Mark Roland and Lt. Basil Sole to save Ziggy.

"Roland quickly applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleed, while Spring worked to fashion a tourniquet from gauze and other bandaging supplies," the fire department said. "Once the bleeding was controlled, Ziggy was loaded back into the car and transported to a local animal hospital."

Once at the animal hospital, Ziggy underwent hours of surgery to fix a cut artery, tendons and nerves.

"The veterinarian advised that without the actions of Spring and Roland, Ziggy would have lost too much blood and would not have survived the ride to the animal hospital," the fire department said.

The department shared photos of Ziggy, still wearing a bandage on his left hind leg, jumping up and licking Spring's face during a recent visit.

"As evidenced by the photos, Ziggy and his owners are extremely grateful to Paul for saving his life," the department said. "We hear that this lucky pupper is well on his way to making a full recovery."

Campton is in central New Hampshire, 48 miles north of Concord.