PERRY TOWNSHIP, Ind. – The Indianapolis Fire Department had to rescue a teen from thin ice this week after a dog fell into icy water, but the teen doesn’t regret a moment.
Nick Travis, 16, wants to make one thing clear, even if he doesn’t regret his actions: He’s not a hero.
“I’m just a helpful neighbor,” Travis said.
Travis jumped to the rescue when his neighbor’s poodle, Lazy, fell into an icy pond.
Dressed only in basketball shorts and a T-shirt in 20-something weather, he took a paddle boat and skated it toward the dog in the center of the pond.
“I saw the dog right before it went under and grabbed it by its fur,” Travis said.
After helping the dog, he realized his boat was stuck and needed his own help.
That’s when IFD had to step in.
In the end, though, everyone was OK and Lazy is prancing along like nothing ever happened. She belonged to her current owner’s in-laws before this, and that brings special meaning.
"Lazy is a very special dog to us because my in-laws both passed away last year in March and so she's kind of the only thing we have left of my wife's parents,” Owner Tim Arkins said. “So she's got a place near and dear to our heart. But… she’s not as important as Nick’s life."
Arkins – who works in Indianapolis emergency medical services – hopes to get the message across to everyone that nothing is worth going out on the ice for, not even a beloved dog.
Travis takes it to heart. When asked if he would do it again, he answered: “Would I do it again? If I had a life jacket and a lot more rope… maybe.”
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