A heartwarming video has emerged of a man climbing down a sewer to help out a snapping turtle after it accidentally fell into the drain.

The footage, shot last year in Minneapolis, MN, USA, shows barehanded James Gustafson catching the turtle by its tail to relocate it.

Gustafson's fiancé told Newsflare that his daughter saw the turtle fall down into the sewer and called her father to the rescue.

The turtle was released in a nearby lake.