EDMONTON – Adam Shaw and his dog Rocky are being hailed as heroes after jumping into the icy water to rescue two young girls who fell into the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton Sunday. Now, Shaw shares his incredible experience with Global News.
“I was out for a family walk, and we were coming back… and on the way back, from across the bridge, we heard some screaming directly below us,” recalls Adam Shaw.
“We looked down, seen one girl in the water the second one on the edge of the ice trying to pull her out, pretty frantic, screaming for help.”
Shaw says he yelled down to the girls, telling them to hang onto the ice.
Shaw quickly grabbed his dog Rocky, told his wife to call 911, and ran down the thick part of the ice with Rocky, trying to catch up with the girl.
By the time he made it onto the ice, one of the young girls was floating downstream. The other girl was in the water, hanging onto the edge of the ice.
“I walked down slowly towards her, out on the ice, and where she had fallen was still pretty firm, so I managed to basically walk right out to her and grab her and pull her onto the ice. She was screaming that her sister was floating downstream.”
Shaw remembers telling her to sit by the trees and call for help.
Meanwhile, he and Rocky took off along the shore, trying to reach the other girl, who he says was already at least 400 yards down river and moving fast.
“We started kind of running down the edge of the ice to get towards her,” says Shaw. “I really thought that the second girl might be gone, because she was going in and out under the ice and I lost sight of her a few times.”
He finally got close enough to talk to her.
“I was trying to yell to her to try to swim towards the ice… she said that she couldn’t… she couldn’t use her arms, and she was so cold.”
So, Shaw started to walk towards her, hoping to pull her out of the river himself.
“That’s when I broke through the ice myself, me and him.”
Shaw and his dog Rocky managed to make it to the edge of the water, and were able to pull themselves up on the ice where it got thicker.
“When I looked up from that point, I didn’t see her. I was kind of looking around kind of frantic but I couldn’t see her anywhere. It seemed like a long time that I didn’t see her, and then finally she popped up. It was probably only a few seconds but it seemed like a real long time. I thought she was gone.”
Shaw and Rocky managed to get closer to the girl, and tried throwing Rocky’s leash out to her to grab onto.
“But…the last three feet of ice was really soft, and she was four or five feet back, she couldn’t reach it,” explains Shaw.
He says he thought about jumping in himself, but thought Rocky had a better chance.
“I’ll let him jump in and see if she can grab a hold of the leash attached to him.
“I said to her ‘I’m going to have the dog jump in beside you, just grab a hold of his leash and he’ll help you back.’”
Within moments Rocky was in the icy water. Shaw says the little girl managed to grab the leash and then he called Rocky back to the edge of the ice.
“She was very scared… and cold. I carried her back to the edge of the shore and put my jacket around her.”
“I just kind of sat there, holding her, telling her it was over, trying to calm her down.”
The day after the ordeal, Shaw is just happy the outcome was so positive.
“Just a lot of relief,” he admits, “a lot of relief that I was able to help them, and that I’m okay, and that it was a good ending.”
Shaw says Rocky likely handled the whole experience better than he did.
“I think it’s just another day at the office for him, to be honest. He runs and swims in that river every year, and he’s been in there hundreds of times. I knew if she could get a hold of his leash and hang onto it, it would be no problem getting him back. I wasn’t worried about him at all, but I’m glad I had him with me, that’s for sure.
“I’ve always been proud of him and loved him as a dog, and he always proves it to me, so it’s just another one of those things.”
Monday, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services presented Shaw with an honourary Fire Rescue helmet for his efforts.
“These two young ladies are very, very fortunate that such a family were to happen along, that were able to intervene and make this a successful outcome,” said Fire Chief Ken Block.
“The North Saskatchewan River at this time of year is certainly unsafe at best,” added Block. “Fire Rescue’s advice to everyone is to stay off of the ice. Naturally, the ice at this time of year is very unpredictable and while we had a good outcome yesterday, often, that’s not the case.”
The nine-year-old child was suffering from hypothermia when rescue crews arrived on scene and was taken to hospital. Officials at the scene said the six-year-old was in good spirits.
The incredible story has put Shaw and Rocky in the spotlight and has many calling them heroes.
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