She jumps into freezing lake (Video)

Several other dog walkers witnessed this dramatic rescue. Environmental activist Ben West, who was at the park with his own dog and his partner, captured a video on his cellphone showing the dramatic moment that an unidentified woman rescued a dog after it fell through the ice on Trout Lake in East Vancouver. “We saw this dog out on the ice,” said West. “It had just been playing with our dog before. I was a little concerned, but just kinda hoping it would walk across to the other side. Next thing you know, I looked over and this dog all of a sudden went through the ice.” West said most people were shocked and called out to the dog — but one woman was spurred into action.

The dog, whose name is Tessa, struggled to climb up out of the water, breaking more ice each time, West said. And that’s when a woman decided to wade waist-deep into the icy water to save it from drowning and help it back to shore. “There was a woman there who had three dogs of her own who had just shown up at the park. She didn’t seem to know anybody else there. It wasn’t even her own dog, she just started trotting out onto the ice and kind of falling through onto the water,” said West. “People were kind of cautioning her — ‘Don’t do it’ — but she said ‘It’s a dog, I have to.” All of a sudden this woman just starts going out into the water to try to help this dog that was clearly in distress. Others did what they could to assist from the shore, joining with Tessa’s owner in calling out the dog’s name, urging her to keep her head above the partially frozen water and keep swimming.

The dog was in the lake for at least five minutes

According to West, Tessa was in the lake for at least five minutes before the woman, whose name is unknown, successfully led her to solid ground. There, both were wrapped in blankets and towels. The woman was invited to a nearby house to warm up in a bath. Paramedics arrived a short time later, heading into the house to check on the well-being of the Good Samaritan. As for Tessa, West said she appeared to be in good spirits, and was already back to playing with other dogs by the time he left the park. Watch the video, it was an amazing rescue!