Young girl rescued from icy pond thanks firefighter who saved her

BEAR, Del. (WPVI) -- It was quite a reunion Thursday between an 8-year-old girl and the volunteer firefighter who rescued her from an icy pond in Bear, Delaware.

A heartfelt embrace between a little Delaware girl and the man who saved her life.

8-year-old Unique Lindsey and firefighter Minh Nguyen met for the first time since the scary incident played out.

"It feels good to see them, it was good to see Unique well, nice and warm - it's a good feeling," said Nguyen.

On Sunday Unique and a family member were playing near a built-in pond at the Meridian Crossing development.

It appeared to be frozen and the girls thought it was safe to walk on.

"We were like, 'Let's play on the ice, let's play in the ice,' and when we went on the ice, that's when I fell in," said Unique.

Nancy McConnell was on her balcony and saw Unique go under the icy water. That's when McConnell yelled for her son-in-law.

"I got off the couch, went to the room and grabbed my bag," said Nguyen.

In the meantime, Nguyen's wife went running to the pond where Unique was nearly drowning.

"Unique kept saying, 'Please don't let me die,' and I said, 'I'm not going to let you die baby my husband is on the way,'" said Michelle Nguyen.

A firefighter with Christiana Fire Company, Nguyen suited up in his water rescue gear and went out in the frigid water to get Unique

"My main goal was to get out on the ice and get to her and make sure her head was out of water," he said.

"I just remember him jumping in the water and her pulling the rope and getting me out," said Unique.

Alive and well now, Unique wrote Nguyen a thank you letter and read it to him out loud.

"Dear firefighter, thank you for saving my life. I had no idea my life was in danger. I just wanted to skate on the ice. I learned my lesson and you are truly a hero," she said.

The Nguyens were set to go out to dinner the day of the incident but canceled their plans. Unique and her family gave them a restaurant gift certificate to say thank you as well.