Tragically, a 65-year-old man lost his footing while strolling his dog across a frozen lake in East Bay Township, Michigan, on Thursday, plunging into the freezing depths below.
After bystanders dialed 911, officer Kammeron Bennetts of the Michigan State Police got the call. Bennetts, 30, was fast on the scene but still had to figure out how to rescue someone without putting himself on the wrong side of the ice.
Thankfully, the imperiled man’s hunting dog was eager to provide a hand, giving the officer a way to get to her owner.
A witness identified the spot on Arbutus Lake where the man from Traverse City fell, as shown in the bodycam clip. The officer removes a rescue disk from his cruiser, attaches a rope to it, and heads out into the ice.
Bennetts could get approximately forty feet from the water’s edge but couldn’t reach the man since he didn’t know how solid the ice was. The rescue disk was tossed to the man. Although the attempt didn’t work, the first try excited the dog, giving Bennetts a thought.
Bennetts shouts, “Call her!” after he ties the rope and disk to Ruby’s collar.
Despite spending 16 minutes in the water, the man from Traverse City still managed to call Ruby. The canine brought the disk to her owner. Bennetts instructed the man to grab the disc. As Ruby offered moral support, the officer dragged the man to safety.
A Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department firefighter sprung to assist with the rescue.
The police told the man from Traverse City, “You better give the dog a ribeye.”
The man was taken by ambulance to Munson Medical Center and then discharged, according to the MSP.
The sixth district of the Minnesota State Patrol said, “What a good girl!!!… Creative thinking helped save a life!!!”
