By Police1 Staff
BOSSIER COUNTY, La. — A Louisiana sheriff’s office released video showing two deputies and a good Samaritan rescuing a stranded boater and his two dogs.
On Monday, the boater made a series of desperate 911 calls after his boat struck a tree and sank, ABC News reports. Authorities said the man, identified as Christopher Burns, called 911 multiple times before being cut off, only getting in contact with dispatchers after they repeatedly tried calling him back.
Burns told dispatchers he was clinging to a cypress tree with his two dogs. He was wearing a life jacket but his two dogs weren’t.
https://www.facebook.com/bossiersheriff/videos/1802697833170568/
Lt. Bill Davis, the PIO for Bossier County Sheriff’s Office, said Burns was holding his dogs “tightly to make sure they were OK” and that he had been clinging onto the tree for “a good 45 minutes or so.”
Bossier County Deputies Tim Wynn and Duane Washington were dispatched to Burns’ home and checked in with his neighbors to see if they had a boat. They eventually got in touch with Thomas Murthree, who had a pontoon boat they used to rescue Burns.
The deputies and Murthree set out on the boat and found Burns and his dogs about 10 minutes later, pulling them into safety.
“He was very happy to see our folks,” Davis said. “I’ve just met him this morning with his wife. They have no children. These dogs are their children.”
Davis also credited the dispatchers for being “tenacious” and repeatedly calling Burns back until they got in touch with him, saying it was “a real blessing.”
https://www.facebook.com/bossiersheriff/videos/1804172883023063/