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Wisconsin Teacher Rescues Crashed Pilot From Lake--And His Dog

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A Wisconsin elementary school teacher is being called a hero after he rescued a pilot whose small plane crashed into a lake.

The 77-year-old pilot was trying to land his float plane on a lake near Phillips, Wisconsin, when it flipped.

Blake Edwards was on his way home from school when he saw sheriff's vehicles searching the lake.

Edwards hopped on his ATV to see if he could help.

That's when he heard someone calling for help.

He grabbed a canoe and headed toward the sound.

Edwards didn't realize it was an airplane in the water until he was right between the two pontoons.

"Instantly, I saw there was a person in the water, barely above the water, with his life jacket, and his dog was swimming frantically," Edwards said. "The man in the water asked, 'Please just help my dog, help my dog.'"

But Edwards didn't need to make a choice between rescuing the dog and saving the man.

"I grabbed the dog as fast as I could," he said. "I took my sweatshirt off and tied it around his dog and reassured the man in not leaving him. Kind of in all one big step, I pulled him in and he got into the canoe."

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