Volunteer firefighter Dwight Williams is a hero in the Town of Olar after rescuing a family's much-loved dog, Mollie. Williams climbed down a ladder more than 30 feet—the equivalent of three stories—into a dry well to retrieve Mollie and then carried her back up, much to the delight of Mollie's best friend, 4-year-old Olivia.

PETA has given Williams its "One Can Make a Difference" Award. The award takes its name from PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's 2008 book of the same name. The book is a compilation of more than 50 thought provoking, original essays written by a variety of people, from Willie Nelson and Mickey Rourke to His Holiness The Dalai Lama to "everyday heroes" who have had a positive impact on the world.

"Mollie and her family are lucky to live in a town that has volunteer firefighters who are so ready and willing to do whatever it takes when it comes to rescuing any individual in trouble," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch.

Williams will receive a thank-you card signed by PETA staffers, a framed certificate, and a personalized copy of Newkirk's book One Can Make a Difference.

Last Thursday, when the decision had to be made as to who would go down 35 feet deep well in Govan and rescue Molly, a three and a half year old 50 pound German shorthaired pointer… Olar firefighter Dwight Williams was the one.

“I was the smallest one there, straight up sticks and bones,” Williams said. Williams, who passed his test to become a certified firefighter on October 10 was the least experienced and the newest firefighter in the department. He volunteered to go down in the well which measured approximately four feet in diameter. “So, I said I would go down, that dog is coming out of that well today,” said Williams. He stated his biggest concern going down the well was snakes.

Williams said there was no way he could have performed the rescue alone and gives credit to other firefighters in the department. “If it wasn’t for Captain Brannon Ayers, Lt. Jonathan Neece, and Incident Commander and Firefighter Robert Ayer, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. The other firefighters strapped a harness around him and lowered him in the well with a rope. One fighter was holding with the rope in his hands and the other with the rope wrapped around his body. “Without those guys, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. They were very instrumental in all of it.”

Lt. Jonathan Neece the Incident Commander on the scene said safety was the first concern.

“I’m proud of all my guys. It was a real professional, successful and safely completed task. Safety was the first concern,” Neece said, adding, “I told Dwight he needed to be as light as possible going into that hole.”

James Hartzog and his wife Amy, who was the first ones to discover Molly in the well, said their “gratitude goes out to everyone who helped rescue Molly. Hartzog said that firefighter Dwight Williams was “quick and fast” to volunteer to go down the well. He said Molly was a good size dog that could have done some damaged to Williams if she had a mean streak in her, but Williams held on to her all the way up. Hartzog said his four year old daughter Olivia was probably the happiest of all when Molly came up out of the well. “All I could do was grab Molly and shake Dwight’s hand,” he said, adding, “the dog was one of God’s creatures. He has His hands on her because she is well loved here.”