Today, the boy's can consider it an exciting adventure, but yesterday, in the late afternoon darkness, it was really touch and go.
"Pull me. Pull. Just keep pulling!" That's all Sage Lavin could say while up to his neck in the frigid water and his little brother Tristan, all 3 feet of him, refused to let go.
"I was really numb. I couldn't feel my arms and legs," Sage told Action News.
Time was of the essence. In just minutes, Sage might not survive, and the 10-year-old said he felt "terrified."
"I thought he wasn't going to survive," said Tristan Lavin
And Sage may not have if not for Cano, the 2-year-old pit bull mix was in a home across the bay. He sensed trouble and began barking. Cano's owner Joanne Abbott rushed to her deck
"He was focusing on that area," Abbott said. "I looked and I could finally see a red hat."
She immediately called Margate Police. Fortunately, Officer John Oakes was at his desk only a few blocks away.
"At first I thought he was holding a stick," Officer Oakes said. "As I got closer it turned out to be his brother's arm."
Officer John Oakes pulled Sage to safety and he was treated at a local hospital. Now his little brother and Cano are both heroes.
Firefighters in Margate plan to hold a safety seminar later this month.
