Firefighters rushed to rescue a dog who was trapped in icy waters on Christmas Day in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Dan Daccardi told NBC10 he was visiting his family for the holidays around 2 p.m. Sunday when his six-year-old black lab named Jack had to make a quick bathroom stop outside the Old Brickyard Pond near Heller Road in Richland Township. When Jack spotted some ducks however, he chased after them onto the pond and fell through the ice and into the water.
“He’s a water and a duck dog, but if you’re not ready for it, boy believe me, he was cold out there,” Daccardi said. “So he was in shock.”
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The Quakertown Fire Department was called to the scene.
"We could see him the whole time," Quakertown Volunteer Firefighter Andy Snyder said. "He had his head above water and he was struggling to get up on the ice but he obviously couldn't. And as a dog owner, that was part of the motivation to leave the family at home on Christmas Day and save somebody else's dog."
Daccardi recorded as the firefighters rescued Jack who was about 100 feet from the shore.
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“He was in the water for about a half hour,” Daccardi said. “Lot of things go through your mind. Hypothermia. Him treading water until he can’t.”
The firefighters pulled Jack into their boat and rushed him to the veterinarian to get checked out.
The rescuers told NBC10 it was the first time they ever had to make an ice rescue using their dry suits and boat. Fortunately for Jack, the firefighters still had trained extensively for that very situation.
"I was able to break the ice in front of him and I just kept telling him to come here," Quakertown Volunteer Firefighter Dylan Winters said. "And he was finally able to swim to me and I grabbed him and pulled him up on to the boat. And once I got him on my lap and he just laid down, I think that he knew he was okay."
Jack is doing fine and Daccardi and his family are extremely thankful.
“I just thanked God,” Daccardi told NBC10. “And my wife literally fell on her knees and thanked God.”
