Deaf man rescued deer from icy river

A man rescued a deer from the frozen Kettle River in Pine County, Minnesota, last Monday. Somehow the deer had fallen into the icy waters. Steven Peterson, 50, who lives in Duluth, is deaf.

"I could see that the deer was moving frantically, trying to escape and it had icicles hanging off its face and it looked frozen," Peterson told family friend Charles Coyle using American Sign Language. Deaf all his life, Peterson knows what it feels like to be dismissed. So there was no way he was leaving this deer to the same fate. He feared it if he called 911 it would take too long.
"I had to do it myself, I know it was risky. I risked my life but this deer needed saving," he said. He set up his iPhone to capture it all not because of vanity but in case he fell in the water people would know what happened when they came looking for him, he said. After seeing the video, Coyle said he had to post it online. "From the first time I watched the video I knew it was an amazing thing. And I thought other people would think the same."

Best viewed full-screeen or at the YouTube link in order to read the subtitles.

YouTube link. Additional raw video. (Tilt head to right).

Peterson said it took about 20 minutes to pull the deer out of the water. The Department of Natural Resources has warned people about the dangerously thin ice this year, especially when it comes to rivers. Once Peterson was able to pull the deer to safety, he said he sat with it for about an hour to make sure it was okay. He snapped pictures of the two of them together, images that describe what appeared to be an unspoken friendship. "I felt a bond with this deer," he said.