One day, Miguel Angel Escobar and his family were on their boat off the coast of Honduras when they noticed something that immediately broke their hearts.

There, along a lonely stretch of coast, they saw a huge sea turtle trapped in some tree roots close to the water.

“I thought she was dead,” Escobar told The Dodo. “We felt such pity for her.”

But the turtle wasn’t actually gone. She had recently clearly given up on life, but hope had just arrived.

Despite the turtle’s apparent demise, Escobar chose to take a closer look nevertheless – just in case.

He pushed the boat onto the shore and walked toward her, but she made no move.

“When I touched her, she instantly let out a sigh, and she started to move her head,” Escobar said.

So that’s when Escobar stepped up and took action. Here’s a video of the encounter:

Escobar started by hacking at the root that was trapping the turtle until it became thin enough to be broken.

Eventually, she was free, and it was all thanks to Escobar’s selflessness and determination.

The turtle, which had before appeared to be lifeless, instantly changed into a ball of energy.

“I thought that the turtle would need to rest on the shore and recover her strength,” Escobar said. “But she instantly swam away, strong and fast, like someone who was jumping for joy.”

She was given another chance. The turtle briefly lingered near the beach before swimming out to deeper waters.

Escobar believes the turtle became entrapped after coming ashore to lay her eggs and got caught in the root while crossing the embankment near the sea.

“I feel happy to have helped her,” Escobar said. “It’s a great feeling.”