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Woman plunges through frozen river as she struggles to save Labrador
A woman plunged through broken ice into freezing water as she tried to rescue her Labrador on the frozen River Ribble.
The woman crawls out to her Labrador dog which has fallen through the ice Photo: ALICE WOOD/CASCADE NEWS
The ice gives way and her friend attempts to rescue her and the dog by throwing her the dog's lead Photo: ALICE WOOD/CASCADE NEWS
Photo: ALICE WOOD/CASCADE NEWS
As the dog walks back to the river bank the woman's friend pulls her to safety Photo: ALICE WOOD/CASCADE NEWS
12:47PM GMT 07 Dec 2010
These dramatic pictures show how she risked her life and was herself rescued when a companion used the dog's lead to drag her to safety. The dog had become frantic after falling through ice into the River Ribble at Brungerley Bridge, Clitheroe, Lancashire.
Eyewitnesses say the woman lay on her front and edged towards the dog - until the ice gave way under her weight. The man she was with used the pet's lead to drag her to safety along with her pet.
Alice Woods, 25, was walking with friends along the river bank. They saw the drama and called 999. "I honestly thought I was watching someone going to die," she said. "It was a scene of panic. "The dog fell in through a thin piece of ice and was really struggling and whimpering. It was quite horrible to see it like that.
"We were all shouting for her not to go after the dog, but she didn't listen and lay on her front, edging her way closer to the dog. "Then, as expected the ice gave way under her and she went straight under water. Straight away she stopped going after the dog and started to try to get herself out, but the ice kept breaking as she tried to pull herself out.
"Eventually the man she was with threw her the dog's lead and pulled her out. "This area of river always freezes over and I have seen many people walking on it. They should be made aware of the dangers. This could have been much, much worse. The woman could have died." Miss Woods, who works for Preston Council, took pictures of the rescue.
Firefighters had been called, but were stood down before they arrived when she got out of the waters. The incident echoes last week's tragic events when 49-year-old father-of-two Philip Smith, from Lancaster, died after slipping into the icy River Lune at Halton trying to rescue his cocker spaniel Harry.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: "Our advice is to put a dog on a lead if it will be going near frozen water, and not to throw things like sticks or balls. "If a dog does end up in the water, then however hard it may be, do not go onto the ice after it, as you will be putting your life at risk as well as the dog."
Simon Salem, director at British Waterways, urged people not to walk on frozen canals and rivers. He said: "I would urge people to understand the dangers of falling through the ice into cold water, which are sudden asphyxia, hypothermia and even drowning. I cannot stress enough how dangerous freezing water is."
A resident of nearby Brungerly Cottages, who asked not to be named, said that the stretch of river where the incident took place was known to freeze over regularly. He said: "I've seen people skating and sliding on the river when it's frozen up in the past, but it's not been like this for some time.
"It's very dangerous, even if the ice is quite thick, because you never know how it will hold out." A regular riverside walker, from nearby Waddington said: "You'd have thought it was common sense not to walk out onto a frozen river. It's ridiculously dangerous."
