Falling through literal or figurative cracks and disappearing forever ranks high among our nightmares from hell. One dog was not about to let that fate befall her owner.
“Ruby,” a Brittany-Spaniel mix, and her unidentified 65-year old owner were walking the frozen surface of Lake Arbutus in Grand Traverse, Michigan last week, when a thin shelf of ice cracked and gave way. The man plunged into the frigid waters. A shocked Ruby scuttled about and drew attention to her human’s plight. Bystanders called 911.
Minutes later, Michigan State policeman Kammeron Bennetts arrived, an open-water rescue disk in hand. Careful not to retrace the Man’s steps, Bennetts trod out upon the the ice as far out as he dared. Bennetts hurled the disk toward the man perched on the rim of the ice hole, still a considerable distance away. However, the throws fell short.
“When someone’s bobbing in the water . . . you may have three seconds or you may have three minutes. You don’t know,” Kammeron told NBC News. “The instinct kicked in of ‘okay, I’ll use my tools. What else do I have?’ The only tool I had was a dog.”
Fortunately, the floundering man was conscious and communicating verbally. He confirmed that Ruby could follow commands. Kammeron summoned her and hooked the disk to her collar.
“At first, you could see her stumble, like ‘What’s going on with this thing?’ But, after that, she knew what to do. She went right to her owner.” The man grabbed the disk and, as instructed, kicked his feet up behind him while clutching the disk. Seconds later Bennetts pulled the man to safety. Bennetts’ body cam captured the entire rescue.
The man had shivered in the ice hole for 16 minutes. He was taken to the hospital and later released. State Police later posted the rescue on X (formerly Twitter): “What a good girl! Amazing ice rescue! Creative thinking saved a life!”