Last month two Jolly Plumbing employees helped rescue a woman who appeared to have fallen through a frozen lake, as reported by LINK nky.
At the Campbell County Fiscal Court meeting on March 2, the court recognized the two employees and the woman who has willingly gone into the lake to save her dog.
Isaiah Maines and Andrew Vorhees were on their way back from a job in Wilder when they saw Katie Broering, who seemed to have fallen through the ice at a small lake along Joann Lane in Alexandria.
“We want to have a conversation and recognize the gentleman who assisted in what could have been- or let’s just say a tragedy averted,” Judge/Executive Steve Pendery said.
During the meeting, Pendery explained the incident.
A commotion outside woke Katie Broering from a nap. Katie’s older brother was yelling for her dog Bea, who had fallen through ice on a nearby lake. Bea was stuck in the frigid lake, treading water, and things did not look promising for the dog.
In only a T-shirt and shorts, Katie sprang into action to try and save the life of her dog. She crawled out on the ice before getting into the water to save the puppy. The water was shoulder deep, and the ice kept breaking around her, making it difficult to push the dog out.
During the struggle to get the dog out of the water, Maines and Vorhees drove past, saw the commotion, and sprang into action to help. Broering’s uncle and neighbor, Steve Broering, was already on the scene with a rope and a life preserver, trying to get her out.
“She had been in the water for about five minutes, and if you know something about hypothermia in 10 minutes, you could die… the three men work together to pull Katie to safety from the icy lake,” Pendery said.
The Alexandria Fire Department arrived on the scene minutes later.
“Tonight, the Campbell County fiscal court would like to honor and recognize the parties involved in this action with a citation of heroism for demonstrating extraordinary courage, compassion and service in a critical time of need,” Pendery said. “And actually, that extends to Katie as well because had she not taken action, the dog may have drowned.”
Steve Broering was also recognized but was not in attendance at the meeting.
“There’s this thing that a lot of people get taught in psychology class called the bystander problem,” Pendery said. “A lot of times when bad things are underway, people stand around and assume somebody else is going to help with the result that no one does. And it’s for these reasons and others that we want to offer our congratulations and a citation.”
