A homeless man in Thurston County who suffered a medical emergency has his dog to thank for saving his life.

On Wednesday afternoon, a woman was walking her dog along railroad tracks in Tumwater when she spotted another dog with a note attached to its harness.

Detective Jen Kolb of the Tumwater Police Department showed KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Chris Legeros the attached note.

“In big letters it said, ‘Help,’” said Kolb. “And on one end it says, ‘Send Help. No Joke. Cannot walk.’ And on the other side it said, ‘Medicine not working. Need doctor.”

The woman who found the note dialed 911, but the note wasn’t signed, and police did not know where the note came from.

Police heard a homeless man with a dog hung out in the area, and eventually found him in an elaborate camp in the woods.

“He was absolutely immobile. He was in his camp and couldn’t move from his location. He didn’t have a phone to call anybody. No way to reach out to anybody for help, and he was afraid he was going to die,” said Kolb.

Police said the note was a desperate, last-ditch effort to survive, and the homeless man attached it to his dog’s harness and sent him off.

The man was treated and released from an Olympia hospital.