A dad-of-three risked his life to save a drowning dog which had fallen into a frozen Teesside lake.
Paul Dorsey had to smash through the ice on Hemlington Lake to rescue the small dog.
He said he was “absolutely freezing” after spending “what felt like forever” in the icy water.
He said: “The dog owner was a young woman and she was frantic with worry and was about to get in herself, I just thought it would be better if I went.
“I just did what I could. I would hope someone would do that for my dog.”
Mr Dorsey, from Hemlington, was with his wife Sarah walking boxer dog, Buster, this morning that the drama occurred.
Paul Dorsey who rescued a dog from icy Hemlington Lake. The dog in the pic is not the dog he rescued. Dog in pic is his dog Buster!
“We were by the lake and we heard a woman shouting," said the 34-year-old.
“Her small dog was running on the iced over lake towards some ducks.
"The woman was screaming. I ran over and the woman was taking her jacket off and was pretty much about to go in.
“I just took my phone out of my pocket, gave it to my wife and jumped in.”
Mr Dorsey said he was able to paddle through most of the ice but the further into the lake he got the thicker the ice was.
He said: “I had to literally smash the ice. It was so hard.
“By the time I got to the dog it was about under the water. It was bobbing up and down.
Linda Boyle
Hemlington Lake
“I grabbed it, put it on my shoulder and tried to swim back. There were times when I couldn’t stand, so had to swim.
“It felt like I was in there forever but I think it was about a minute. The poor dog was shaking.”
Mr Dorsey managed to get out of the lake and said several people came to his aid.
“There were two council workers who ran over - one gave me his fleece jacket and another man came over to see if I was ok.”
Mr Dorsey said he didn’t get chance to speak to the dog owner and see how the dog was.
He said: “I don’t even know what breed of dog it was or what it was called.
“Once I was out of the lake I just wanted to get out of my wet clothes and get home.”
Paul Dorsey's arms after the rescue
Mr Dorsey said he is used to freezing conditions - as he works in the freezing department in Tesco, Coulby Newham.
He said: “I am used to working in cold conditions but I have never been that cold in my life.
“I was freezing. I can’t really remember a lot of what happened. But I did what anyone would have done I think. I couldn’t have let that woman go in.
“I really hope the dog is ok and I want to thank everyone who came over to help me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment