Video shows firefighters rescue man and dog from icy Massachusetts lake

WELLESLEY – A Wellesley father of three and his dog are home safe after first responders rescued them from a freezing lake on Sunday.

Dramatic drone video shows the daring rescue on Sunday as a first responder crawls on thin ice to help Ed Berger struggling in a frigid icy Lake Waban. But it wasn’t just Ed in the water, his 8-year-old Cockapoo Tommy had fallen in the lake first.

“Traumatic experience”

“It was definitely a pretty traumatic experience,” said Ed Berger. “I think anybody who owns a pet would do the same thing, I just knew I had to do something.”

It began on a walk when Tommy saw birds, then ran off, but tumbled into the freezing lake.

As fast as Ed could act, he grabbed a boat from Wellesley College, then went after Tommy, putting his Mass. Maritime cold-water training to the test.

“I did a couple of things right and I did a couple of things wrong because obviously becoming part of the problem was not my intention,” said Ed Berger. “I knew the first thing I needed to do was control my breathing and not panic and I had the boat.”

But boat tipped over. Within minutes, firefighters and police teamed up to first pull the father of three out of the water. Then they got Tommy out too.

“I kept telling the fire department, ‘I’m fine I’m totally fine go save the dog,’ but they said ‘no sir, people first, it must be people first,’” said Ed Berger.

Tommy was taken to the Veterinary Emergency Group where Dr. Allan Heuerman treated the dog.

“Our first concerns are hypothermia,” said Dr. Heuerman. “Tommy’s a fighter, that definitely helped him stay alive and breathing and fighting throughout this whole process, so definitely lucky.”

Ice warning  

It’s a dangerous time on the ice that can lead to tragedy, like in Atkinson, New Hampshire where a 56-year-old mom fell through ice and drowned over the weekend.

In Wareham, first responders found a man clinging to a kayak after he had fallen through an icy pond.

“Even though we’ve had cold temperatures. We don’t really recommend going in there at all because you never know if the water is moving, if there’s a pocket of warmer water underneath,” said Wellesley Fire Chief Matthew Corda.

What could have ended in tragedy, became a happy ending for Ed and Tommy, and for that they’re so thankful to the first responders and medical staff who made it happen.

“The fact that they got me, and they got him was just absolutely amazing, so incredibly thankful,” said Ed Berger.

First responders say the lesson here is to keep your dogs on leashes and if they go out into the ice, don’t follow them, just call 911.