State police share video from icy pond rescue
January 12, 2024 | By Mike Donoghue | Vermont News FirstCAMBRIDGE – Vermont State Police have released the dramatic video of the lifesaving effort by Trooper Michelle Archer in pulling an 8-year-old girl from an icy pond in Lamoille County last month.
Vermont News First broke the story of Trooper Archer diving into the freezing water off East View Road in Cambridge shortly before 9 a.m. on Dec. 17 and saving the girl.
The child was rushed to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington for treatment of injuries that were initially believed to be life-threatening. She has since made a complete recovery and returned home.
The Vermont State Police Victims Services Unit, which was engaged with the family from the start, shared the video with the family before it was released to news media outlets Friday, spokesman Adam Silverman said. The release followed a series of requests under Vermont’s Public Records Law.
Archer told Vermont News First that state troopers are trained to react. “There wasn’t a whole lot of thinking going on. Something was taking over – training. It was the opposite of panic,” the six-year police veteran said.
Archer said she and Cote agreed with the assessment that trying to save a child is a basic reaction for most human beings.
A screenshot from the video released by Vermont State Police shows Trooper Michelle Archer’s cruiser in the driveway beside the pond where the children fell through the ice.
Rescue captured on camera
According to the information state police released on Friday, the girl and siblings were playing near and on the surface of a pond on private property near their home.
The thin ice gave way, and two children fell into the water.
“The 80-year-old homeowner was able to reach and pull to safety a 6-year-old girl who was close to shore, but the 8-year-old was further away, near the center of the deep pond. The homeowner called 911,” the police report states.
Archer’s body camera video shows the trooper opening the back of her SUV cruiser and pulling out a department-issued life preserver with a throw rope and running to the edge of the bone-chilling pond while getting information from a witness. Archer discards her gun belt and wades into the near-freezing pond without hesitation and swims to the child.
The underwater video shows Archer secure the girl and swim back to shore. An unidentified man, one of the property owners, assists her initially as State Trooper Keith Cote arrives.
As she reaches the bank, Archer yells, “Keith, she’s making noises. She’s making noises.”
Cote can be heard twice telling Archer to get into dry clothes. Cote is then pictured picking up the girl from the ground, wrapping her in his arms, and carrying her to the waiting ambulance from Cambridge Rescue.
The names of the property owners, including the 80-year-old woman who helped the younger child, have not been released by state police.
Archer eventually changed into warm, dry clothes and did not require medical treatment, police said.
The bitter cold water was an estimated 40 degrees, according to Lt. Cory Lozier, the state police commander for Lamoille and Chittenden Counties.
Archer was on routine patrol and happened to be nearby at the time and arrived on scene less than five minutes after the call, state police said.
Vermont State Police leadership have commended Troopers Archer and Cote and the homeowner for their selfless, heroic conduct, and all three have been recommended to receive the agency’s Lifesaving Award, Silverman said.
Read the earlier report of the incident here.
CONTENT WARNING: The video clip below contains footage of the rescue. Some readers may find this distressing to view.