Would you dive into a frigid icy river to save a stranded dog that you didn't know? It sounds like the ultimate what-if scenario. But one Vermont man found himself in just that predicament. Fortunately for the poor pooch, Chris MacRitchie never hesitated in being a hero.
He managed to get to the dog in the water and get it to shore. From there, his wife helped warm the poor animal with a sweatshirt. The incident was captured on Facebook in a video. MacRitchie's son notified his parents of the stranded dog while they were in line at a Dunkin' Donuts. Realizing the animal would die without his help, the father immediately went to save the dog.
"It was like one of those moments everyone probably has in their life like you're going to make a decision," MacRitchie said. "I felt I was obligated to at least try to fetch this dog out of the river, as I have two dogs myself, and I would hope someone would do that for them if they were in that spot."
Wearing a T-shirt and no jacket, the Vermont man braved the cold as he waded into the icy river to approach the animal. He managed to lift it out of the water and carry it over to his wife.
Stranded Dog
"The only real stress I had about it wasn't getting in the cold water. It was the depth. I did not know if it was 20 feet deep or it was 2 feet deep," MacRitchie said. "When I broke through and I got on my feet and it was like waist-high, I was actually relieved by that. In my mind, during the moment, I thought, 'OK this isn't that bad. Yeah, it's cold, but I feel this is a very doable situation.'"
Fortunately, MacRitchie was able to locate the dog's owner — Morgan Cerasoli. She had been looking for the poor pooch since it had gotten loose.
"It's brave, it's selfless, it's commendable. It's everything that I think that we were on this Earth to be," she said of the rescue. "Sometimes it feels like that's very rare these days."
