Hayley Hesseln was walking her four dogs on Sunday afternoon at the Silverwood Dog Park when she heard screaming coming from the river.
Hesseln walked down the hill and saw a woman in a red parka clinging onto the edge of the ice, Hesseln broke off a nearby stick and pulled the woman out.
“I took off my parka and then I put my parka around her. I wrapped her up and covered her head. I didn’t have my cellphone so I had to run up the trail to Warman Road, stop a couple cars and get them to call 911,” Hesseln explained.
“In that moment, you just know what you have to do.”
The woman had fallen into the ice, after trying to rescue two dogs who chased some geese onto the ice and fell through, according to paramedics.
Paramedics say the woman is 28-year-old and was treated for hypothermia on the scene.
The woman and dogs survived.
“We’ve never actually seen something like this in my time. It’s one of those freak accidents where dogs are running and found a weak park of the ice,” Troy Davies, a spokesperson for Medavie, formerly MD Ambulance, said.
Hesseln said she recognized the 28-year-old woman as a dog walker – and so did one of the officers on the scene. Hesseln said the dogs that chased the geese onto the ice belonged to the officer.
“I said, ‘I’ll take care of the dogs, I’ll take them home.’ And the officer said, ‘Oh no, two of them are mine!’” Hesseln said.
Davies said the woman will be recognized for her courage with an award presented by Medavie.
