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Hesseln

Ag prof rescues woman from river

A U of S professor is being lauded for pulling a woman out of the South Saskatchewan River over the weekend.

“You don’t expect it, and then everything happens so fast, and then when you’re going through it, you’re thinking, ‘Oh my god, I hope I can get to her,’” Hesseln told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix earlier this week.

The associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources was walking her dogs Sunday when she heard yelling; the woman had fallen through the ice trying to retrieve her dogs who had chased after Canada Geese.

Hesseln sprang into action quickly, crawling on her stomach on the remaining ice and reaching out to the woman with a tree branch. She ultimately pulled her out, swapped coats with her and ran to nearby Wanuskewin Road to flag down help.

“I’m so grateful I could be there," Hesseln said.

Read more at the StarPhoenix.

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