A High River woman was reunited with her dog after a river rescue from the High River Fire Department earlier this week.
By chance, local photographer Mike Sturk was out for a stroll in the area on Wednesday, March 26, and was able to capture images of the local rescue personnel at work.
"I usually walk almost every day at the Mercer property, and I thought, 'Well, it's about that time of year I should check out the osprey nest to see if the birds were back,'" says Sturk. "As I was walking over there, I heard a dog, which sounded like it was in distress."
Upon taking a closer look through his camera lens, he soon caught sight of the dog's owner, Janet Isbister, standing on the riverbank.
Seeing that she was in distress, Sturk quickly put two and two together.
"So I'm thinking, geez, if that dog is right underneath her, I'm going to have to go home and get my waders," he says. "And as I was walking there Ryan Morash from the fire department was walking there. Our paths sort of merged... I knew he was going to the dog, and I said, 'Well, I'm glad you guys are here."
Other firefighters followed soon after, equipped with river rescue gear, along with some RCMP officers.
The dog, Duelly, was at the bottom of the embankment, standing in a patch of relatively shallow water, flanked by the rushing river and facing a ledge that was too steep to traverse.
Sturk watched as firefighter Dan Hartman slid down to Duelly with a rope and leash in hand, recalling that she looked very happy to see him.
After securing Duelly with the leash, he passed her up to fellow rescuer Ryland Flapman, who reunited her with Janet.
Sturk is glad to have been there to photograph the rescue, not only to capture Janet's and Duelly's joy at being reunited but to showcase the bravery and commitment of High River's emergency responders.
"The fire department and the police, they do such good work."