Samantha Buuck said, “I really thought I wasn’t going to survive. It was so cold.”
12-year-old Tony Buuck was playing basket ball in his family’s driveway near Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Saturday afternoon when he heard cries for help coming from the frozen pond in their backyard. His younger sister, 8-year-old Samantha Buuck had ventured out onto the ice and had fallen through. Tony rushed to help her, but the thin ice broke beneath him as well. However, he was still able to reach his sister and he tried to get her to float on her back, but by that time she was unconscious. Tony told ABC News, “I began by taking my arms and sort of just putting it under her shoulders. I realized that wasn’t going to work so I grabbed her coat hood.”
Their father, Dale Buuck rushed to the pond as soon as he realized what was happening, but the ice gave way underneath him as well. He managed to grab Tony, who still had a grip on his sister, and pull both the children to shore. He said, “The more I pulled him up he still had her by the coat, and he never let go of her in the cold water. [Tony] treaded water that whole time, with one hand and never let go of her.” Samantha was unconscious and not breathing when they got her to shore, so Tony ran to the house and called 911 while Dale stayed with his sister and began CPR. He told the dispatcher, “My sister is Samantha and she was standing on the ice … and she fell in … Her face is almost completely purple. I tried to keep her head above water but I’m not strong enough.”
Rescue workers arrived and were able to revive Samantha, and all three Buuck’s were treated at a local hospital and released. Although the EMS crew revived his sister, it’s thanks to Tony that Samantha is alive today. His dad said, “He says he’s not a hero, but he sure is my hero and his sister’s hero.” But according to Tony, “I think a lot of people would have done it. I don’t want to have all the glory and stuff.”