Ohio Teen Saves Man From Sinking Jeep

A 17-year-old saved a man and his dog after the 83-year-old’s Jeep plunged through the ice on an Iowa lake. The Okoboji High School student was ice fishing and watching a nearby snowmobile race on the lake when he saw a Jeep plunge into the ice around 3 p.m. Joe Salmon, a wrestler, football player and track athlete, called 911 as he rushed to help Lee.

Salmon jumped into the frigid water in Iowa’s East Okoboji Lake to save Thomas Lee and his dog Cooper. Four other men, Corey McConnell, Kody Harrelson, Cody Chester, and Chris Parks, also assisted in pulling Lee and his dog to safety. The heroic scene was captured via drone footage by photographer Tom Gustafson, who shared it on Facebook.

The video shows Salmon break the back window of the sinking Jeep and lean through the back window to free the dog. He tosses the dog toward the four other men, who pull the dog from the water. Salmon then climbs into the back window and makes his way to the front of the Jeep to pull Lee, whose foot was stuck, out through the area of the back window.

Salmon freed Lee and helped him out of the back window. Another man jumped into the icy water and helped pull Lee onto land. Salmon then jumps from the Jeep back onto land and sprints up a hill to continue ice fishing. Lee was taken to nearby Lakes Regional Healthcare and did not suffer any injuries while his dog was cared for by rescuers at a nearby store.

Salmon said of the rescue “I took one step and the water went to about my chest. I got on the bumper of the rear and tried opening the back door, but all the windows were locked, but one guy gave me a knife and I hit the back glass a couple of times. I’m happy that he was OK and the dog was OK. It was just crazy at the time.”