Updated

An Atlanta guide dog has reportedly traded his life to save a 4-year-old boy.

WXIA-TV reports Simon, an 80-pound boxer, heroically pushed Will Furukawa out of the way of an oncoming vehicle this week after the car ran a stop sign while the boy was trying to cross the street with his father.

Simon was, instead, struck and later succumbed to his injuries, according to the station.

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"What people have said is that Simon either got up or jumped out, and pushed my son out of the path of the car," Dave Furukawa, Will’s father, told the station. "This is true loyalty and courage."

The incident reportedly occurred Monday, as Dave Furukawa, who is visually-impaired, walked his son, Will, to school with the help of Simon, on whom he has relied for the last four years.

Witnesses reportedly said that the vehicle would surely have killed Will – who was still  hit -- had it not been for the dog.

But WXIA reports that even after the accident and as harried witnesses rushed Will down the street to his mother, the injured Simon followed the boy home.

"Broken leg, gash on his side and internal bleeding, but he followed home," Furukawa told the station. "Once he was sure Will was okay, he laid down."

The family rushed Simon to an emergency vet clinic, but the beloved boxer expired along the way.

Atlanta Police reportedly cited Calvin Armour with running a stop sign and failing to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Meanwhile, an Ohio guide dog organization called Pilot Dogs, Inc. has promised to replace the irreplaceable pup with another guide dog.

Click for the story from WXIA-TV.