Video: Cops rescue 72-year-old who fell through ice trying to save her dog in Wisconsin

A 72-year-old woman and her dog are safe after falling through ice in Wisconsin, police say.

Around 1:30 p.m. Jan. 15, police in Prairie du Chien received a call that a woman had broken through the ice near a boat ramp on the Mississippi River, according to a news release obtained by newswire service Storyful.

When police arrived, they discovered the woman almost completely submerged in the icy water roughly 15 yards from the shore, according to police. She was struggling to keep her head above the water.

Police soon realized the woman’s dog was also in the water and struggling to stay afloat.

Body camera footage of the incident shows an officer grabbing rescue tools from the trunk of a car and running toward the water, where others are waiting. After donning life jackets and wrapping ropes around their waists, two rescuers trek gingerly out onto the ice.

They reach the woman and her dog, but both rescuers fall through. Those on shore are able to pull one from the water before the team is able to free the dog and then the woman. The second rescuer is also safely removed from the water, along with the woman and the dog.

An ambulance took the woman to a hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia, police said.

During an investigation, officials learned the dog had run onto the ice before falling through. The woman fell through while trying to save her dog.

A passerby heard the woman struggling and called 911.

Three law enforcement officers were later recognized by the Prairie du Chien city council for their “selfless acts of valor in the face of potential loss of life.”

Prairie du Chien is roughly 100 miles west of Madison on the Mississippi River.

This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 11:24 AM.