Ron Williams, an 84-year-old WWII Army veteran, says he owes his life to his recently-adopted cat, Fluffy.

Several weeks ago, Williams slipped and fell in the shower, and he couldn’t get up. After more than 16 hours, he realized his cell phone was on the bathroom counter, but still just out of his reach. The veteran turned to Fluffy, who followed him into the bathroom earlier, for help.

“So I said ‘ring-a-ding Fluffy,” Williams told FOX17. “‘You’re my only hope.'”

Williams always said “ring-a-ding, Fluffy” whenever his cell phone rang, and the smart cat quickly associated the saying with the man’s phone. Amazingly, after Williams uttered the words from his bathroom floor, Fluffy knocked the cell phone off the counter and into his reach, allowing him to finally call for help.

Thanks to the clever cat, Williams got out of his predicament with only minor injuries. Things could have turned out much worse, if not for the quick-thinking feline.

“I relive it a million times,” he said. “What if he hadn’t been in there with me? I’d be dead today.”

This heartwarming story reminds us that sometimes we need animals just as much as animals need us.