The deer had likely set out to cross the frozen lake in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, unaware that each step was leading her into danger. Then — disaster. The ice beneath her gave way, and she plunged into the freezing water.
Alone, exhausted, and nearly invisible from shore, the deer struggled to keep her head above water. She was over 200 yards from land — too far for anyone to hear her cries, too deep in the ice for her to escape on her own.
But hope was coming.
When a call came in about the trapped deer, the Gilmanton Fire Department sprang into action. Five firefighters grabbed their inflatable rescue boat and raced to the scene. Time was running out.
Braving the fragile ice, the team smashed their way across the frozen lake, inch by inch, paddling toward the barely visible figure clinging to the edge. When they finally reached her, she was hanging on with her front hooves, trembling and utterly drained.
“We found her with just her head and front feet above the water,” said Captain John Cunningham. “She couldn’t move. She’d been out there a while.”
The team wasted no time. Knowing she might not survive much longer in the freezing lake, they gently lifted her into their boat and brought her back to shore — but not just to the edge.
“[We] actually gave [her] a ride back on the boat up to somewhere that was safe in the woods,” Cunningham explained. “We didn’t want her running right back onto the ice.”
She had likely ventured out thinking the frozen surface would hold her weight — not realizing a recent warm spell had thinned the ice to dangerous levels. Deer cross that lake often, but this time, the conditions turned deadly.
Once back on land, it was clear the deer was in rough shape. Shivering and barely able to stand, she lay still as the firefighters wrapped her in warming blankets, doing everything they could to help her recover from the ordeal.
“It was cold enough that she wasn’t really moving around much,” Cunningham said. “We just focused on warming her up.”
Wrapped in warmth and surrounded by gentle hands, the deer slowly began to come back to life. Within an hour, she was alert, standing, and ready to go.
Then, without warning, she took off — bounding into the woods, free once more.
You can see more photos of her whole rescue journey here:
Thanks to the quick-thinking, determined efforts of a few kind-hearted rescuers, one lucky deer got a second chance at life.
