Man saves woman’s dog from drowning in icy river
Chris MacRitchie said it was fate that he'd been driving through the Berlin Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru when his son noticed a dog drowning in the river adjacent to it.
By Anna Guber
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BERLIN, Vermont (WPTZ) — Chris MacRitchie said it was fate that he’d been driving through the Berlin Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru when his son noticed a dog drowning in the river adjacent to it.
“I pulled over and just kind of passed the drive-thru and looked over the bank and saw her in the water,” MacRitchie said.
From there, MacRitchie said it was just moments before he jumped into action to save the pup while his son captured the entire rescue mission on his phone. In the video, MacRitchie can be seen sliding into the frozen water, swimming out, scooping up the dog and bringing her back to shore.
“I don’t think there was a ton of time left, and just my thought was either I’m going in to get her, or the alternative is happening,” he said.
Once out of the water, MacRitchie learned the dog’s name, Arizona, from her tag, which also contained her owner’s phone number. Morgan Cerasoli said she rescued Arizona in 2018; the two had been practically inseparable ever since, until Morgan said Arizona ran off, presumably looking for Morgan at work.
“She typically goes everywhere with me, and my office is pretty close to where she was found, and I just have this feeling that she was trying to find her way to me,” Cerasoli said.
After 24 hours of searching, Cerasoli said she was just beginning to lose hope that she would find Arizona when she received a call from MacRitchie.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love you, I love you, thank you so much I’m turning around, let me pull a U-turn. I’m coming, thank you, I love you, I love you,'” Cerasoli said.
Now, Cerasoli said both she and Arizona are doing well, and both will remember MacRitchie as their forever hero.
“When I saw the video, it was very evident to me how I would have lost her if it wasn’t for Chris,” Cerasoli said.
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