On Monday, retired local politician Charlie Parker was shoveling snow in front of his Nova Scotia home when he noticed a small dark figure crawling across the road in the distance. Figuring the creature for a lost seal, Parker went to investigate. As he walked closer Parker realized the seal was actually an old man, who by now was lying face down in the road.

Hours earlier, Gerald Whitman left his home to go for his dialysis treatment. Road closures forced him to take a detour and eventually his car ended up stuck in the snow. Not wanting to be trapped, Whitman left his car and struck out for nearby house. After taking a break and sitting down, the 73-year-old found he couldn't stand up and decided to crawl instead.

"After about an hour, I thought, "Well, if this is what it's going to be - I made peace with the Lord and said 'If it be your will, so be it," he told the CBC. "And I just stopped. Apparently it wasn't his will."

Not long after, Parker found a body lying in the road. To his surprise—and perhaps disappointment—it turned out not to be a new seal friend but instead a gentleman he knew.

"I turned him over," Parker told the CBC. "It turned out to be a gentleman I knew — he had been my former banker."

From the CBC:

He slung Whitman's arm around his shoulders and pulled him along. For the last bit, Parker tried to fetch a toboggan, but couldn't dig it free. He returned and told the elderly man to get up.

The two men managed to get to Parker's house where the former politician's wife, Marilyn, and their dog warmly received the visitor. Whitman was covered in heaps of blankets and Parker spooned him coffee, as he couldn't grip a mug.

Forty-five minutes later, once a snowplow had cleared the roads, an ambulance arrived and Whitman was treated by paramedics. Later, he made it to his dialysis treatment.

"[Parker] thought I was a seal. On behalf of all seals, I'd like to thank him for his interest," Whitman said.

The seal-loving accidental hero, meanwhile, remains humble. "I'm sure I didn't do anything different than anyone else would have," Parker said.

[h/t Daily Mail/Image via CBC]