An Austrian hunter's faithful dog saved his life after a crippling fall - by fetching his mobile phone.

Albert Hoffman, 59, was left with severe back injuries and a punctured lung after plunging 20 feet out of a tree while bird shooting.

Unable to move, he called for his pet Labrador to fetch his mobile phone from his nearby rucksack.

An emergency services spokesman in Gutau, upper Austria, said: "His dog is a real hero.

"He was in the middle of nowhere and with the injuries he had if he had not called us soon he could have died."

Good job he hadn't taken his budgie with him...

I've got to go, he's started moaning again.

The original was here.