NY officer attends graduation of girl he rescued in 2011


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NORTH BABYLON, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island police officer has attended the high school graduation of a teen he rescued from icy waters more than six years ago.

Newsday reports (http://nwsdy.li/2tHYuGQ ) that Suffolk County Police Officer Matthew DeMatteo watched Sarah Thalhammer graduate from North Babylon High School on Saturday.

Thalhammer was 11 when a dog she was walking dragged her onto the frozen Great South Bay on Jan. 17, 2011. The ice gave way about 50 yards off shore.

DeMatteo crawled onto the ice and pulled Thalhammer out, but the ice broke again. Firefighter Chris Gonzales threw them a rope and pulled them both to safety.

Thalhammer's mother invited DeMatteo to her daughter's graduation.

DeMatteo said Thalhammer is going to do great things and he's "very, very proud of her."

___

Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast