Cecil Williams, 61, pets his guide dog, Orlando, from his hospital bed following a fall onto subway tracks from the platform Tuesday in New York. Williams, who is blind, says he fainted while holding onto his black Labrador who tried to save him from falling. Both escaped without serious injury.

NEW YORK — Gallant guide dog Orlando was just doing his duty.

The black Lab bravely leaped onto the tracks at a Manhattan subway platform Tuesday after his blind owner lost consciousness and tumbled in front of an oncoming train.

Cecil Williams, 61, and Orlando both escaped serious injury when the train passed over top of them — a miraculous end to a harrowing ordeal that began when Williams began to feel faint on his way to the dentist.

“He tried to hold me up,” an emotional Williams told The Associated Press from his hospital bed.

Witnesses said Orlando began barking frantically and tried to stop Williams from falling from the platform. Matthew Martin told the New York Post that Orlando jumped down and tried to rouse Williams even as a train approached.

Witnesses called for help and the train’s motorman slowed his approach as Williams and Orlando lay in the trench between the rails.

“The dog saved my life,” he said.

Williams was taken to a hospital where he is expected to recover, with Orlando at his bedside. Williams, a large bandage on his head, said he is not sure why he lost consciousness, but he is on insulin and other medications.

Williams, of Brooklyn, has been blind since 1995, and Orlando is his second dog. The lab will be 11 on Jan. 5, and will be retiring soon, Williams said. His medical benefits will cover a new guide dog but won’t pay for a non-working dog, so he’ll be looking for a good home for Orlando.

If he had the money, Williams said, “I would definitely keep him.”