Man jumps shirtless into frozen New York lake to rescue stranded dogs
IRVINGTON, New York -- A Yonkers man and his dog didn't hesitate to jump into a frozen lake in Irvington to rescue two stranded dogs in need of help.
Timofey Yuriev was walking his dog Kira last weekend at the O'Hara Nature Center when he noticed the older dogs crossing the lake on the ice.
After he saw the dogs fall in, he said he knew help wouldn't arrive fast enough so he took off most of his clothes and jumped in -- breaking the ice along as he went.
Yuriev grew up in Kazakhstan and said his grandfather taught him to swim in ice in Siberia when he was 7 years old.
He relied on the cold water training he had been taught years ago and went in after the dogs.
"When I did the breathing technique everything felt nice," he said. "I felt a bit light-headed and I went for the second dog."
The second rescue proved to be more challenging because he had to break through more of the ice to get there and clear a path to get back to shore.
He motioned to the dog to come with him, but he said Kira helped a lot because she went to each dog and touched them with her nose to round them up.
The rescued dogs' owner lives near the lake and the dogs had apparently escaped.
Yuriev and all three dogs made it back safely to the shore and all are safe.
