A Long Island woman rescued a man who fell into a partially frozen creek in Mastic, jumping into action from her own backyard, fire department officials said.
The Mastic Fire Department received a call at about 12:30 p.m. on Thursday regarding a cold water rescue in Poospatuck Creek where a man had fallen through the ice and was unable to get out, the department said in a Facebook post.
Kayla Masotto then “risked her own life,” as the fire department was responding to the scene, springing from her backyard onto her paddle board and successfully saving the man from the water, officials reported. Masotto is being called a hero for risking her life and was praised by the Fire Department for doing a “great” job in the Facebook post.
“This gentleman was already experiencing the early effects of hypothermia and thanks to Kayla’s actions, will be okay after being evaluated at a local hospital,” the post read. “Kayla, thank you again for your amazing life-saving efforts this afternoon.”
Masotto, of Mastic Beach, told News 12 she spotted the man on the ice when she was sitting in her living room watching TV, and ran out and asked if he needed help, but he told her he was okay. Not shortly after, the man’s personal watercraft started to smoke and then sank.
“I ended up running to my basement, grabbing my paddleboard, and ran out and saw how far I could run on the ice,” she told the outlet. “I just had to do what I could to try to help this man. There was no time to think honestly. It was just kind of adrenaline.”
Mastic Fire Department Chief Steven Januszkiewicz told News 12 he credits Masotto with saving the man’s life in a situation where seconds count.
“She just sprung into action and did what she had to do and thank God, because in this kind of situation, time matters,” he said. “The quicker you can get them out of the water, the better chance of survival they’ll have.”
The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.
Masotto was reportedly in disbelief over what she did, saying she just wanted to ensure the man made it home to his family.
“That’s someone’s son. That’s someone’s brother. That’s maybe someone’s dad and I would hope that if it was my family member out there, that someone would do the same,” she humbly stated.
