Michigan state police officer Kammeron Bennetts rescued a 65-year-old man who had fallen through the icy surface of Arbutus Lake on Jan. 16. The heroic feat wouldn’t have been possible without help from the man’s dog, Ruby.
The man was submerged in the icy water for about 16 minutes, and bystanders made the initial call to 911, NBC reported.
Bennetts’ body camera captured the scene.
In an interview with NBC, Bennetts explained, “When somebody’s bobbing in the water, you may have three seconds, or you may have three minutes. You don’t know. So the first thing I did was grab the rescue disc and try to get out there as fast as I could.”
Bennetts walked as close to the man as he deemed safe, but he had to stop a considerable distance away. When he threw the “rescue disc” to him, it was still 5 to 10 feet away from the man.
“The instinct kicked in of, ‘OK, I’ve used my tools, what else do I have?’ The only tool I had was a dog,” Bennetts told NBC.
“Send your pup here. Will she come to me?” Bennetts remembers calling out to the man.
The man told him, “Her name’s Ruby.” The dog came directly to Bennetts when he yelled, “Ruby, come here.”
Bennetts then attached the rescue disc to the dog’s collar and she ran back to her owner.
“Get ahold of that disc,” Bennetts told the man, according to NBC. He then instructed him to kick his feet and pull on the disc. Once Ruby delivered the disc and the man untied it from her collar, it only took a few more seconds for Bennetts to pull him out of the water.
The camera footage showed that ice had formed on the man’s hands.
The Michigan State Police X account shared footage from Bennetts’ body camera of the rescue, and commented, “Grand Traverse County: Body-cam footage captures daring ice rescue by MSP Motor Carrier Officer Kammeron Bennetts with the help of the victim’s dog Ruby. Great team work and well done!”