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When he needed it the most, Bryan Ouellette received help from the most unlikely of places — his daughter’s dog Rosco.

Bryan’s daughter Brittany Ouellette had left Rosco with her father in Calgary when she went for a day trip to Banff on Nov. 3, 2018. While watching a football game, Bryan stood up to go to the washroom but quickly realized he couldn’t move. Panicked, he rolled his body and fell to the floor. He was having a stroke, he couldn’t yell for help and he was alone, except for Rosco.

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The left side of Bryan’s body was numb but he could tap his right foot on the floor to snag Rosco’s attention. The dog ran to Bryan in the bedroom, finding him on the floor. The three-year-old dog leapt into action, propping Bryan up so he could reach the phone and dial 9-1-1. When EMS arrived, Rosco dragged Bryan across the house so he could unlock the front door.

Brittany received a phone call from Alberta Health Services while still in Banff, telling her to go to the hospital where her father was in surgery.

“When we were finally able to see him, he could still talk and remembered what happened. He told us how Rosco saved him,” Brittany recalled Tuesday.

The stroke had damaged the left side of Bryan’s brain, affecting impulse control instead of speech, memory and mobility.

“If he hadn’t gotten surgery so quickly there would have been more damage. Doctors are shocked that he’s already walking because it was a major stroke he had,” said Brittany.