Man’s dramatic rescue of dog from freezing river in Vermont caught on video | Global News Avenue

Dog found struggling to stay afloat in icy conditions Vermont By the river, Chris McRitchie never hesitated.

He jumped into the icy water, waded to the dog and gently pulled it to shore, where his wife, Erica, draped a sweatshirt around it. His son captured video of the dog’s dramatic rescue Friday afternoon in Berlin, Vermont, and shared it with everyone Extensive presence on social media.

Mike Ritchie’s son, Ace, first spotted the dog when they passed a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru. When they reached the embankment, the father-of-two felt he had no choice but to save the dog.

“It’s like one of those moments in everyone’s life where it’s like you have to make a decision … either try to get in the water and help her or choose another option,” McRitchie said. “So, I felt like I was at least It was an obligation to try and rescue the dog from the river as I have two dogs myself and I would like someone to do this for them if they were in that location.”

The video shows McRitchie, wearing a T-shirt, sweatshirt and boots, approaching the embankment as the dog struggles to escape. He initially calls out for the dog and his wife Erica can be heard encouraging him to rescue it.

McRitchie carefully made his way through the ice and into the river. He waded about 20 feet into the water and made his way toward the dog, who could be heard panting. The dog was located on a frozen tributary of the Winooski River. other side. As McCrich lifted the dog, later identified as Arizona, from the water and lowered it onto the icy embankment, his wife repeatedly yelled “come on” to the dog and exclaimed “Oh, my God “. He gave it to his wife.

“The only real pressure I faced was not going into cold water. It was the depth. I didn’t know if it was 20 feet deep or 2 feet deep,” MacRitchie said. “When I broke through and stood up, it was like waist high, and I was actually relieved about it. At that moment, I thought, OK, this isn’t that bad. Yeah, it was cold, but I I think this is a very feasible situation.”

After retrieving the dog, McReach called the dog’s owner, Morgan Cerasoli, whose phone number was on the dog tag.

Serrasoli said she has been searching since Thursday for her dog, a seven-year-old mutt who was originally rescued from a roadside in South Carolina. She was on her way to pick up her daughter from school when she got a call from McReach, who said he had “rescued a drowning dog” from the river. “He wanted to make sure it was her dog.

“I started crying and I told him, oh my God, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. Turn me around and I’ll be right back,” she said in the interview Arizona said while sitting next to her during the interview. She said the dog has largely recovered, but tests did reveal he had Lyme disease.

After being reunited with her dog, Sierra Soli said she saw the video and cried again about McClitch’s exploits and the dire conditions in Arizona at the time.

“It’s brave, it’s selfless, it’s commendable. It’s everything I think we should be on this earth,” she said of the rescue. “Sometimes it feels like it’s very rare right now.”