A man who fell through the ice on a frozen Michigan lake was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded man's dog to deliver rescue equipment and pull him to safety, the Guardian reported.
Bystanders called 911 on Jan. 18 after the 65-year-old Traverse City man fell through frozen Lake Arbutus, state police said.
A body camera worn by Michigan State Highway Patrol Trooper Kameron Bennetts captured the rescue, initially showing the man trapped in the frigid waters with only his head and shoulders above the thin ice, his dog by his side.
The footage shows Bennetts first trying to throw a rescue disc tied to a rope at the man. When he fails, the officer asks the man to send his dog to him.
"Send your puppy over here. Will he come to me?" he calls to the man, who replies that his dog's name is Ruby.
"Ruby, come here! Come here, Ruby!" Bennetts shouts before whistling for the dog that runs towards him and arrives tail wagging.
The officer ties the rescue disk to the dog's collar and asks the man to call Ruby back to him. When she returns to her master, Bennetts tells the frozen one to take the disk from Ruby and start kicking.
"Kick with your feet!" the officer yelled, pulling the man onto the icy surface of the lake and urging him to hold on to the disc as he pulled the rope, dragging him to safer ice near the edge of the lake. Bennetts and a local firefighter were then able to grab his arms to complete the rescue.
State police said the man was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment and later released. The agency hailed the rescue in a post on X, praising Ruby in particular.
"What a good girl!!! Amazing ice rescue," the post read. "Creative thinking helped save a life!!!". /BGNES
