Originally published 2022-01-22.
On the afternoon of Sunday 9 January 2022, Dusti Talavera, a 23-year-old woman living in an apartment complex in Arapahoe County, Colorado, in the Denver metro area, looked out of her window and saw children walking on a frozen pond. Moments later the ice gave way and three of them were in the water. She ran outside, went into the 15-foot-deep pond and pulled two of them out, then fought to reach the third, a six-year-old girl, with the help of a 16-year-old relative of the child. The girl was not breathing when she was brought out, and sheriff's deputies restored her breathing with CPR. All three children survived.
This is the story of what happened that day, who was involved, and what it teaches families about frozen ponds, a danger that catches people out every winter.
What happened at the pond
The pond sat in the middle of the apartment complex, and from above it looked solid. According to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, four children were playing on the ice at around 3:30 p.m. when it broke and three of them fell through.
Talavera did not wait. She later said nobody else was outside and she simply knew she had to act. She went into the freezing water and managed to bring a four-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy back to the edge. The third child, the six-year-old, was further out and harder to reach. A 16-year-old boy, a relative of the girl, also entered the pond and helped pull her out after Talavera struggled to bring her in alone. Reports at the time described a rope being used to help get them out.
The water was about 15 feet deep, according to South Metro Fire Rescue, and the little girl had been under the surface for what authorities estimated was a few minutes.
The deputies who brought her back
When Arapahoe County deputies David Rodriguez, Blaine Moulton and Justin Dillard arrived, the six-year-old had no pulse and was not breathing. They removed her wet coat and started CPR on the bank. Body-camera footage later released by the sheriff's office shows the deputies working on her until she began to breathe on her own.
Rodriguez described how hard the moment was for officers who are parents themselves, saying that seeing a small girl with a blue face, eyes open and not responding was very difficult, and that they fell back on their training. The footage carries a warning that some viewers may find it distressing.
The girl was first taken to Children's Hospital, where she was listed as stable, and was later transferred to Denver Health Medical Center, where she was reported to be in serious condition but expected to survive. The other two children were checked and well enough to go home. The sheriff's office said the incident did not warrant criminal charges.
Why the rescuers' speed mattered
Falling into icy water is dangerous in ways many people do not expect. The first minutes bring cold shock: an involuntary gasp, rapid breathing and a racing heart. Breath-holding time can drop from about a minute to just a few seconds, which makes it very easy to inhale water. Within minutes, the muscles in the arms and legs start to cool and weaken, so even strong swimmers lose the ability to pull themselves out. Hypothermia, the dangerous drop in core temperature, usually takes longer, but by then a person may already have slipped under.
Small children are especially vulnerable because they lose heat quickly and are less able to keep their heads above water. That is why the quick reaction of a neighbour who saw them fall in, and of a teenager who joined her, made such a difference. It also explains why the deputies' CPR was so critical: the girl's survival depended on getting oxygen back into her body as soon as she reached the bank.
Firefighter Cory Sudden of South Metro Fire Rescue, a father of four boys, told reporters that what Talavera did was amazing and that he hoped someone like her would be close by if one of his own children were ever in that situation. Deputy Moulton praised her for putting her life at risk so the children could survive.
A brave rescue, but a risky one
Stories like this are rightly celebrated, but rescue services are careful to add a warning: many people who go into icy water to save others become victims themselves. The same cold shock that endangers the person who fell in can overwhelm the rescuer within minutes. Talavera told deputies she was not thinking about her own safety because the children needed help, and she was fortunate that others arrived quickly.
Emergency services generally teach a simple order of priorities for bystanders:
- Call for help first, or shout for someone else to call the emergency number while you act.
- Reach from the shore with a branch, pole, scarf or ladder rather than walking onto the ice.
- Throw something that floats or a rope, as the teenager did, and pull the person toward the bank.
- Go onto the ice only as a last resort, lying flat to spread your weight, and ideally with something tying you to someone on land.
Learning CPR through a certified course is one of the most useful things any adult can do. In this case, it was trained deputies who restored the girl's breathing, but in many emergencies a bystander is first on the scene.
Keeping children safe around frozen water
After the rescue, South Metro Fire Rescue urged residents to stay off frozen ponds, lakes and reservoirs. In Colorado, winter temperatures swing sharply between cold nights and sunny afternoons, so ice can look solid while being thin and rotten underneath. Retention ponds in housing developments add their own risks: water flowing in and out, and changes in depth, can weaken the ice unevenly.
Parents can help in a few simple ways. Talk to children before winter about why they must never walk on ice unless an adult has said a specific, tested area is safe. Point out the ponds and creeks near home and school. Make sure older children know to call the emergency number rather than going in after a friend. And keep an eye on young children playing outdoors near water, even when it is frozen.
Remembering the people who stepped in
The rescue in Arapahoe County worked because several people acted at once: a young woman who saw the danger and ran toward it, a 16-year-old who joined her in the freezing water, and deputies who did not give up on a child with no pulse. Each link mattered.
Talavera was widely praised in local and national news, and the deputies' body-camera video became a powerful reminder of what CPR can do. For most of us, the lesson is less about jumping into a pond and more about preparation: knowing the risks of ice, teaching children to stay off it and learning the skills that can keep someone alive until help arrives.
Sources: KMGH Denver7 report via TMJ4: woman and teen rescue three children from icy pond; Wikipedia: Cold shock response; Positive Outlooks; video report via YouTube.
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