A horse narrowly escaped drowning in floods, thanks to the efforts of a family from the Australian town of Murwillumbah.

Now a man, his wife and their son are being praised all over social media, having spent over five hours keeping the horse, who collapsed in their doorway, alive.

Last Thursday night, Leigh Shepherd's wife noticed a noise coming from their neighbour's horse, Tilly, who was struggling in the deep water as a result from the floods.

Shepherd decided to help retrieve the horse, after his wife said she was going to get it, according to ABC News.

"I couldn't stand all my friends saying 'you let your wife swim out into flood waters, what were you doing?' So obviously I had to go out and get the bloody thing," he told the news outlet.

Aided by their son Rob, the pair used a cord to help lead the horse to their house. It made it up the stairs, but collapsed in the middle of the doorway.

The pair used a bodyboard to help keep Tilly's head above water, sitting by its side for the five hours it took for floods to subside.

"She was just buggered, she couldn't move, she just lay there and was dependent on us," Rob told the news outlet. "We thought if she wasn't going to drown maybe hyperthermia or something like that would have got her."

Despite fears it would not make it through, Tilly escaped relatively unscathed. It had a deep laceration on one of its front legs, as well as being very tired and sore from the ordeal.

Tilly is now recovering back at home with its friend, a pig named Snooky. Nawww.