Hummingbirds are known for being adorable creatures that are brightly colored and can flap their wings incredibly fast. Meanwhile, Michael Cardenaz seems to be the exact opposite of a hummingbird, as he is a big muscular man who spent fourteen years working as a member of SWAT teams before he moved to his current job as a Homeland Security agent.

Though hummingbirds and Michael could not be more different, one of these creatures just forged an incredible friendship with him that is now going viral.

Michael’s main passions in life are Harley-Davidson motorcycles and German Shepherds. One day, he was sitting on his porch in Grovetown, Georgia when a hummingbird flew down and landed on his palm. It did not take Michael long to realize that the bird was an old friend of his.

“I was kind of shocked by it,” he said. “Finally, I’m thinking, ‘Random hummingbirds don’t just land in my hand. This must be one of my rescues. I mean they all look alike.”

It turns out that Michael is a huge animal lover who once took the hummingbird in and nursed it back to health.

“He had an injured wing,” he explained. “I don’t know if he flew into a window or what. But he was outside my home, by the wall, just sort of spinning in a circle. Their wings are almost like plastic, they’re transparent. Several of those had broken. So he couldn’t gain flight.”

It took months, but Michael was able to nurse the bird back to full health again. When winter came, the hummingbird migrated south, and Michael assumed that he would never see it again.

“I’m probably not the guy you would think nurses hummingbirds, but you see them helpless and you want to get them back on their feet,” he said.

Sure enough, the hummingbird never forgot what Michael did and flew back to be with him. We need more people like Michael in the world!