SKANDIA -- You may have heard stories of a dog saving someone's life, but have you heard of someone jumping in a frozen stream to rescue a canine? One man from Skandia found himself in that exact situation.
Four-year-old Miles is a Mastiff Lab, and 48 hours ago, he was stuck under an ice-covered stream. He was playing by the water when he fell, in and the current swept him away.
That's when James Goriesky got his chainsaw.
"It was about 8 o'clock at night. So it was dark so you couldn't see him. You couldn't see under the ice," said James Goriesky. "The ice was right on top of the water so there was no room to see, but you could still hear him bark every once in a while. So I started cutting chunks out to try to get in."
However, he isn't the owner. Goriesky was showing his house to potential buyers, Emma Carter and her fiance, who brought Miles with them.
"Thank you to James and thank you to my fiance, Roger, for helping getting him out because I would be lost without him," said Emma Carter, dog owner.
The water level was almost to the top of the ice, and Miles only had a three-inch air pocket to breathe. So time was of the essence.
"Finally I was able to get to a spot where I could see where he was. So I went under the water and ducked under the ice, grabbed him and pulled him back to the opening. Brought him in and warmed him up," Goriesky said.
Goriesky spent twenty minutes trying to free the dog. He cut through twenty inches of ice to do it. He says he would do it again in a heartbeat.
As for Miles, he is back to chasing after his favorite ball.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC