In the last days of December 2015, Steven Peterson, a 50-year-old deaf man from Duluth, Minnesota, was driving through northern Pine County when he spotted a deer struggling in the Kettle River. He pulled over, walked through the woods, crawled out onto the ice and hauled the animal out with a rope. Then he told the whole story in American Sign Language, and the deer he named Miss Ice River became one of the most shared winter rescues of the season.
The Kettle River deer rescue: what happened
Peterson saw the deer from the road, trapped in freezing water on the Kettle River. "I felt obligated to help her, so I pulled over, trekked through the woods, and crawled out onto the ice," he explained, as NBC reported on January 1, 2016.
Using a rope, he pulled the animal out of the water and onto the ice. At first the deer shook and shivered hard. After a few minutes out of the water it calmed, and Peterson helped it to its feet. It walked a short way, lay down again and started licking its wounds, which were not severe.
Peterson stayed beside it for about an hour while both of them warmed up. He left only once he judged the deer would survive. In his video he signs the name he gave her, Miss Ice River, and adds: "Now we need to find her mother."
A rescue told in sign language
The clip spread through a subtitled version shared on YouTube by Chris Haulmark on December 29, 2015. Peterson tells the story himself in ASL, and the captions let hearing viewers follow along. That first-person telling is a big part of why the video travelled so far.
Peterson also explained why he acted alone. He thought about calling 911 but decided that, as a deaf person, getting through to police and having the right crew and equipment arrive would take too long. Deaf and hard-of-hearing callers can reach 911 by TTY, and many US areas now accept text-to-911, which is worth setting up on any phone you carry in winter.
About the Kettle River in winter
The Kettle River runs 83.6 miles (134.5 km) through Carlton and Pine counties in eastern Minnesota before joining the St. Croix River, part of the Mississippi watershed. It is a popular paddling river, with Class I to IV rapids through Banning State Park, including the well-known Hell's Gate Rapids.
That moving water is exactly what makes its winter ice treacherous. Current eats at ice from below, so a river can look solidly frozen while the surface over the channel stays thin.
Ice safety if an animal is in trouble
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources sums it up plainly: there is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice. Its key points for anyone tempted to go out after an animal:
- About four inches of clear, new ice is the minimum for one person on foot.
- Ice over flowing water, near streams, bridges and culverts is often dangerous, and the outside of a river bend is usually weakest.
- Thickness can change from a foot to an inch within a few steps, and snow cover both insulates and loads the ice.
- Fish and waterfowl can open warm-water holes in otherwise solid ice.
Call 911 or the local conservation officer first, give a precise location and stay on shore with a rope or pole ready. Peterson's rescue ended well; the best outcome next time is two survivors, the animal and the person.
Sources
- NBC: Deaf man saves deer from Minnesota river
- Video shared by Chris Haulmark (YouTube) – Chris Haulmark channel
- Minnesota DNR: Ice safety
- Wikipedia: Kettle River (Minnesota)
- Photo: video frame, video shared by Chris Haulmark; earlier feature via Life Buzz.
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