An elderly Penetanguishene man was rescued by his neighbour after getting stuck outside wearing only long underwear.

Alexandra Dalrymple had just finished watching a movie on Sunday night when she heard some strange noises coming from outside her home on Yeo Street.

Dalrymple and her husband shut everything off and stood in silence trying to figure out what the noise was.

“The only words I could make out were ‘Where are you?’” Barry Janz recalled.

He thought his neighbour was looking for his dog, but after another minute the couple heard more yelling. This time it appeared to be more desperate.

“I looked out the window and saw a flashlight waving around; decided I should go check this out and see what’s going on.”

Janz found his elderly neighbour, Edwin Aalto, half-stuck on a fence in just his long johns. He had a slipper on one foot and a rubber boot on the other.

Without hesitation, Janz helped free Aalto and brought him inside to keep warm until paramedics arrived.

“His legs were having such trouble moving, my only thought was to get him inside.”

The 89 year old was brought to hospital with severe hypothermia. It’s still unclear exactly how long he was stuck outside.

“He had put a slipper on one foot and a rubber boot on the other, and that’s my Edwin,” says Becky Aalto, Edwin’s wife. “He got out of the house without my knowing, which is very disturbing. He went outside for some reason and the neighbour found him thank goodness.”

Becky says her husband is in the early stages of dementia. During her visit with him in hospital, Aalto said he didn’t know what happened.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, so we’re going to have to be very, very careful with what happens here in the house.”

She’s hopeful he will be home soon, joking that Edwin misses his dog and her cooking. She’s grateful for the quick actions of her neighbours.

“He could have been in a lot more trouble if we didn’t get to him when we did. I’m just glad we heard him,” says Janz.