Excerpts from fox32chicago.com:
Cathy Medernach and her son were walking near the retention pond behind their Aurora
home Sunday, when their dog Bailey headed out onto the pond and fell through the ice.Medernach and her son grabbed the family’s canoe. She took the canoe out onto the ice, but then it tipped, sending her into the water which was up to her waist. She fought to climb back into the canoe while her son went inside to call for help.
The boy called his father, who told him to call 9-1-1.
When firefighters arrived, she told them to rescue the dog first, but they insisted on getting her to safety.
After getting Cathy inside where she could warm up, Aurora firefighters used ropes, and a floating sled to reach the dog. A member of the dive team pulled Bailey out of the icy waters and the dog was rushed to a nearby animal hospital.
During about 30 minutes in the water, the dog’s body temperature had dropped 10 degrees, and she’d suffered some abrasions trying to climb onto the ice.
Aurora Fire Marshal Javan Cross said there’s a lesson here, whether it’s a dog, or a human, that’s fallen through the ice.
“Leave it to the professionals,” Cross said. “We’re trained to be able to do all kinds of rescue, pets included, so let us do our jobs, and don’t make any incident worse than what it needs to be.”
