RATHDRUM, Idaho – Jordan Simon was paralyzed back in 2015 after a tree fell on his car during the windstorm.
In late 2017, he was injured again in another accident and spent weeks in the hospital. Jordan is now back home and loves spending his days with his two dogs. Those pups found themselves in a pretty scary situation Tuesday after falling into a frozen lake.
Nala and Diesel are two Great Danes who are incredibly strong and mischievous. They managed to nestle their way through a gate to get onto the lake.
“Right through those trees all the way out to where the ice ends is where they ran to,” Jordan’s dad, Rob said.
By the time Jordan noticed his dogs had gotten out of his yard, they were running far across Twin Lakes. Both dogs are safe and warm now but Tuesday was a completely different scene.
“At first, I was in my chair trying to get around to call them back but when I knew they weren't coming back I sent my buddy down there with a truck,” Jordan explained.
Then, he called 911 and his dad who rushed home to help with the rescue. A human has less than 15 minutes before hitting exhaustion or unconsciousness in those water temperatures. By the time Rob jumped into the canoe the dogs had already been in the water for 45 minutes.
“When I got out there Diesel, the bigger one, was in the water he couldn't get out. He just had his head above water and Nala was laying on the ice,” Rob explained.
He pulled one dog at a time into his canoe and handed them off to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office that helped get the dogs dry and warm. There was no hesitation by Rob to risk his own life saving his pets.
They can laugh now looking back but could not imagine the devastation if anything happened to them. After Jordan's second accident in October, he moved with his mom to a hospital in Denver that specialized in spinal cord injuries.
“I wish they could have stayed in my hospital room there. They definitely would have brought the life to the hospital,” Jordan explained.
After the accident, the Simons realized these pups are too smart for their own good.
“Diesel has figured out how to open the slider and the gates and now he's working on door knobs too so we have to watch them close,” Rob said.