LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A peaceful sunset turned into a dramatic rescue on Saturday when a Louisville teen risked his life to save two girls who had fallen through the ice at a lake.
Brandon Malone, 17, and his girlfriend had gone to the dock at McNeely Lake Park in southeast Jefferson County to watch the sunset when they heard cries for help from about 100 yards away. Two teenage girls had broken through the ice and were struggling to stay afloat.
"My girlfriend was kind of like, 'Do y’all need help? Do y’all need help?’ And they were like, ‘Help, help, help.’ So I just came running over. Ran over. Didn’t even think about it, did it," Malone said.
One of the girls was closer to shore, while the other was farther out, almost in the middle of the lake. Malone immediately gave the first girl his shirt to help keep her warm and then turned his focus to the second girl.
Malone, a senior at DeSales High School, started onto the ice, but it didn’t hold.
“So, I mean, at that point when I fell in, that’s when it kind of hit me. Like, this is a fight-or-flight moment,” Malone recalled. “So, you know, I got up under the ice, pushed it up.”
Though the lake was shallow, the water was freezing. Malone struggled through the ice, pushing up from the lake bottom to break a path forward. Nearby, a boot and gloves left behind in the ice marked the girl’s struggle.
"The water was so cold,” Malone said. "I needed to get out of there. We needed to get out of there."
Despite the fear that crept in, Malone kept going, thinking of his family and determined to get the girl to safety.
“I was motivated. And worst comes to worst, I wanted her out. That’s the honest truth.”
Wearing cowboy boots, jeans, and a winter hat, that was later lost in the rescue, Malone pushed forward as his girlfriend stayed on the phone with 911. Help was on the way, but time was critical.
Finally, Malone reached the second girl, and together, they made their way to shore. Just as they got out of the water, fire department crews arrived on the scene.
The firefighters checked him over and had some blunt advice.
“They were like, ‘Good work, but that was stupid.’ And I was like, ‘You’re right. It was stupid,’” Malone said.
As quickly as it began, the rescue was over. The two girls, whose names he never learned, have their lives ahead of them, thanks to Malone’s quick thinking and bravery.
Reflecting on the moment, Malone said he could tell the girls were in shock.
“I think they were also in shock, obviously. Like, ‘What just happened?’ But it’s totally understandable,” he said.
While he may have downplayed the danger, his courageous actions made all the difference.
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