A 27-year-old man is being hailed as a hero after he stripped down to his underwear and dove into a freezing river to save a drowning deer last week.

Marc Headon and his colleague Jamie Toyne had been driving home from work through Saxilby, England when they spotted a pair of ears floating on the surface of a nearby canal.

After they parked their car and got a closer look, they saw that there was an exhausted deer in the water.

Without hesitation, Headon took off his clothes and plunged into the river. As Toyne cheered him on and filmed the rescue mission from the bank, Headon swam out to the deer, put his arm around its torso, and gently towed it back to the riverbank.

Toyne briefly stopped filming the event so he could help Headon pull the deer up onto dry land – but he managed to catch a clip of Headon hauling the shivering deer to its feet so he could keep it warm and soothe its nerves.

Headon, who works as a painter, reportedly stayed in his underwear for 40 minutes so he could use his clothing to keep the deer warm until rescuers arrived.

Shortly after the deer was taken in for treatment, the two workmen received a phone call from an animal rescuer thanking them for successfully saving the young deer's life.

(WATCH the rescue video below) – Photo by Jamie Toyne

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