Call him Captain Kangaroo.

An Australian police officer demonstrated a heart of gold after rescuing a drowning wallaby that couldn’t make it back to shore, as seen in this heartwarming video.

The nearly three-minute clip — shared Tuesday by the Bribie Island Police — shows Constable Mick Brownlee heroically wading out to a wallaby struggling in the surf approximately 30 feet off Bed Beach in Queensland, Australia. Brownlee’s initial rescue attempts fail after the scared kangaroo relative — they belong to the same taxonomic family — hops away from his savior, presumably mistaking him for a predator.

The determined officer eventually succeeds by swooping the water-logged wallaby up in his arms, carrying it like a baby back to the beach, where the exhausted marsupial then ducks under a nearby patrol car to recuperate. The constable was lucky to nab it — fugitive wallabies have been known to hop for miles on land to evade police capture.

Bribie Island Police officers report that the animal didn’t appear to be injured, and quickly bounced back from his marine misadventure after drying off.

While the critter in question might’ve been in peril, the animals are able to swim great distances by kicking their legs independently in a dog-paddle-like motion, according to the World Animal Foundation. Last month, a water-loving wallaby was found paddling a whopping 4 miles off the coast of Queensland.