Global News has learned of a daring rescue along the Red Deer River in Drumheller Dec. 10, where an ex-firefighter worked with his neighbours to save a deer.
Matthew Todd Paproski said he was taking a nap and checking Facebook on Dec. 10 when he saw a post about an old deer that looked like it was trapped on the Red Deer River near his home.
WATCH: A video posted to Facebook shows a dramatic rescue of a deer, that fell through the ice on the Red Deer River.
Paproski said the image was haunting him so he jumped into action, calling fellow wildlife enthusiast Laura Dougan to come with him to help. They gathered supplies and, as an afterthought a camera, and went to the site where the doe was stuck in the ice.
Paproski said they never would have attempted this if they didn’t know what they were doing,
“Nobody should attempt anything like this without the proper training or they could create a bigger problem.”
Two other neighbours assisted with the rescue, which took about 30 minutes. It was complicated by the fact that at one point the deer was spooked by Paproski and tried to get away, moving deeper into the ice-covered river.
WATCH: It started as a desperate call for help when a woman noticed a trapped deer in the ice on her property and snapped a photo, then posted it to Facebook. That’s when one Drumheller resident stepped in. As Jill Croteau reports, the compelling rescue was all caught on camera.
In the end, Paproski waded into the water and got behind the deer so he was able to get a rope around it. With a lot of pushing from the water and pulling from the shore, the group managed to pull the doe to safety and likely saved her life.
Paproski and Dougan put the video together, shared it on the Starland Studios Facebook site on Dec. 27 and, as of Jan. 2, already had over 11,000 views.