He caught a mucky break.
A Lengthy Island hiker who sank right into a freezing, chest-high mud pit whereas chasing after his canine final week thanked the cop who rescued him at a heartfelt reunion Wednesday — saying he panicked when he “couldn’t really feel my face.”
Kyle Prato, 24, a paramedic from Medford, praised the Suffolk County cops who trudged 3 miles into Blydenburgh County Park to save lots of him Thursday — together with Officer Richard Esposito, who pulled him from the just lately drained Stump Pond.
“I really feel nothing however thanks as a result of if it wasn’t for him, I might need sank additional, and I’m unsure how that might have gone — however I’m very grateful,” Prato mentioned at a press occasion Wednesday afternoon.
“It was chilly, very chilly. I couldn’t really feel my face, couldn’t barely really feel my lips, my legs.”
Prato was taking his 7-month-old Austrian Shepherd, Stryker, on a frigid trek by the huge greenspace in Smithtown when the pup darted into the large mud puddle and acquired caught.
“I used to be attempting to carry on to a frozen piece of dust, however as soon as a chunk of dust thawed, that’s after I form of sank somewhat additional,” Prato mentioned, including it took roughly 40 minutes for police to search out him. “By that point, I went from my knees to my waist.”
“As soon as the helicopter noticed me, I form of felt extra relieved,” he mentioned.
As roughly a dozen officers looked for him, Esposito noticed him within the quicksand-like pit and sprang to motion.
“I’m not gonna let him sit in there, so I made my method out,” Esposito recalled. “‘He mentioned, ‘Don’t get too shut,’ however as soon as I acquired a few foot or two from him, I went down with him,” the cop mentioned on the occasion, held at Suffolk County Govt’s Workplace.
“We laughed for a second, however I used to be capable of shimmy out and seize him by the arm and simply pull him out,” Esposito mentioned.
On the reunion, staged for media by Suffolk County Police Division, Prato shook Esposito’s hand and mentioned “thanks” with a smile as Stryker bounded round gleefully, mugging for cameras.
The canine finally emerged from the mud unscathed lengthy earlier than his proprietor’s slim escape, Prato mentioned.
“For probably the most a part of it, [Stryker] was simply working round in circles, having the time of his life,” Prato mentioned. “After which in direction of the tip, is when he took a seat proper subsequent to me.”
“I believe he realized one thing was occurring,” he mentioned. “However for probably the most half, he was simply having fun with himself.”
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