Glen Green doesn’t think he and his daughter, Alexandra, did anything extraordinary.
The Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) believes otherwise.
The Greens were recognized Friday by the SFD for their actions on Nov. 16 in saving a woman on the South Saskatchewan River.
Leah Grigg was walking her pet dog, Abby, when the dog ventured onto the ice at the Furdale Dog Park, just south of Saskatoon.
They both fell through the ice and the current swept them downstream.
Glen jumped down on a ledge to pull them out. Alexandra passed Glen a spare leash, which he used to loop around Abby to pull her out, then he helped Grigg out.
He said they were fortunate enough to have the ability to help someone.
“Something like this just doesn’t happen very often in one’s lifetime, that you can actually save someone’s life,” Glenn said.
Alexandra said others would have done the same in the same situation.
“We just happened to be the people there at the right time,” she said.
Morgan Hackl, Saskatoon’s fire chief, honoured their actions by awarding them awards of merit.
“Helping others in need is a critical value of the culture here in Saskatoon,” Hackl said.
“What the Greens have shown through their efforts on Nov. 16 is they are another component of us all making a difference in our community.”
Glen said anybody would have done what he did in the same situation.
“Here was a head in the water quite a bit north of me, downstream of me. And I just ran. I called and told her I was coming,” he recalled.
“What was going through my mind was (I was) going to help someone.”
Hackl said heroic efforts like the Greens’ need to be recognized and celebrated.
“You did save someone’s life and so on behalf of the Saskatoon Fire Department, and I can say that all of the citizens of Saskatoon, thank you for what you’ve done,” he said.
— With files from Nathaniel Dove
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