A frozen lake can be a fun place to skate, snowmobile, or even fish on. With that being said, a healthy fear of falling through the ice is often what keeps us safe, or off the lake all together.
Still, there are a few times in line where standing on ice is required, including ice fishing. A frozen Lake Harku in Estonia is a popular place for ice fishing. Of course, part of ice fishing is braving the uncertain surface. Unfortunately, everyone's biggest fear when it comes to frozen lakes became a reality for one elderly fisherman on Saturday, March 26th as reported by NTD TV.
The victim was out on the lake enjoying his Saturday when the ice gave in and pulled him in with it. The ice not only physically trapped him, it also posed the threat of freezing him to death, and suffering from hypothermia.
Luckily, rescuers were called immediately. They rushed to the scene in a race against the clock and hypothermia, which elderly people are especially vulnerable to and which happens when your body loses heat at a faster rate than it can be regenerated.
The first responders utilized the same kind of rescue board many of us are familiar with for other life saving purposes, only on this occasion it acts like more of a sled gliding along the ice than a floatation device.
They were able to pinpoint the victims location and pull him onto the board and take him to dry land all in under ten minutes, which as mentioned was crucial in preventing dangerous hypothermic levels.
The Paasteamet Estonian Rescue squad posted the video below on their Facebook page as a warning to other ice fisherman. The man in the video was taken to the hospital and successfully treated for mild hypothermia.
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