A dog in the harbor, a split-second call, and a teenager in the water.
Fifteen-year-old Mateo Akerman was spending the afternoon with friends on Balboa Island in Newport Beach when they noticed a dog named George wandering dangerously close to traffic. Moments later, George ended up in the water.
At first, the dog paddled through the harbor on his own. But as the group watched, it became clear he was struggling to make it back to shore.
Mateo jumped into the harbor and swam out to George. When the exhausted dog could no longer keep going, Mateo carried him back to safety. Friends captured the rescue on video.
Once back on land, Mateo and his friends wrapped George in a towel to warm him up and checked the information on his collar. They used the phone number they found to contact the dog’s owner and stayed with George until help arrived.
Before long, George was reunited with his family.
“I have two dogs myself which I rescued when I was younger so I have an incredibly deep love for dogs. So when I saw a dog in danger I knew that I had to act because I know that if that was my dog I would want someone to do the same,” Mateo told CBS LA.
Neither George nor any of the rescuers were injured, and the dog appeared to recover quickly after the swim.
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