Winter Hazard: Beware of Thin Ice

Boo is a gorgeous female golden retriever. She, along with her brother Buster, is owned by Eric and Jody Odette who live at Lake Viking. Boo and Buster are well-known at the lake, because Eric and Jody always take them along when they go on frequent boat-rides. Like many playful and fun-loving golden retrievers, Boo loves to play “fetch.” All Eric Odette has to do is mention the word and Boo becomes excited over her favorite game with the familiar red ball. On Thursday, December 31, however, that game almost became deadly as a result of a freak set of circumstances involving “thin ice.”

Eric had been throwing the red ball to Boo in his front yard, but after the ball rolled on the slick icy ground, out into the road, he became concerned about Boo being exposed to oncoming traffic. He moved the game to the back yard and Boo eagerly followed. Eric gave the ball a playful toss, but the problem was that the back yard was also very slick with a coating of recently fallen snow on top of a glaze of ice. As a result, the ball rolled and slid and rolled, skimming across the icy terrain, down the hill, over the seawall, and it rolled a considerable distance onto the ice of Lake Viking.

Boo, of course, chased the ball. As she followed it out onto the ice, disaster occurred. Because of the mild winter, Lake Viking has only recently frozen. Some large areas are still open water with thin ice at the perimeters of those spots. As Boo chased the red ball, she suddenly found herself breaking through the thin ice and in the cold water!

Pandemonium followed. Boo tried to get out of the water and back onto the ice, but she couldn’t. Eric’s good friend and neighbor, Robert Walton, grabbed a shovel to start breaking ice, but he immediately fell on a slick spot, on land. This was going badly, but Robert had the presence of mind to call 911 and report a “situation” about to occur on thin ice. Then, Eric remembered a small plastic paddle boat that had been left at his place by a friend. He frantically dashed to the shoreline and put the paddle boat in the water – but there was still ice between him and Boo. After breaking ice with Robert’s shovel, he advanced the boat forward. Then, he broke more ice, literally progressing foot by foot. By the time Eric reached Boo, she was terribly weak and about to go under. Amazingly, by this time, three emergency response ambulances had arrived as Eric made it back to shore with his weak and nearly frozen dog. He rushed Boo into the house, dried her off and covered her with blankets, and she survived.

Eric is thankful that a friend had left the paddle boat at his place. Otherwise, the result would have been disastrous. He was also amazed at the quick response by local emergency response departments. This incident is a reminder. The type of weather we’ve been having makes slips and falls on ice a very real hazard. I know several people who have been seriously injured. Worse yet, this type of weather also makes falls through the ice a danger. Over the years, I have personally known of two people who have fallen through the ice on lakes and ponds and drowned – and another young man who barely survived falling through ice. In 2020, Joyce Dooley also of Lake Viking, found that her dog (ironically his name was “Mr. Boo”) was frozen in the lake water. Need I say: WATCH OUT for ice and STAY OFF the ice on bodies of water.