DeSales senior says, ‘God came into play,’ after rescuing girl from icy lake

Brandon Malone

As 17-year-old Brandon Malone walked to the dock at McNeely Lake Park with his girlfriend on the evening of Jan. 17, he anticipated a romantic evening watching the sunset over the frozen lake, he said in a recent interview. 

“I thought it was going to be a great day,” he said.

But moments after reaching the dock, his girlfriend was calling 911, and the DeSales High School senior began to question whether it would be his “last day,” he said.

“We went down to the dock to look at the water and the scenery, and it happened as soon as we got down there,” he said. 

— Brandon Malone, DeSales senior

His girlfriend was the first to notice the commotion on the lake, whose surface had frozen during days of frigid temperatures, said Malone. Two girls had fallen through the icy surface; they were fighting to get out and calling for help. 

When he caught sight of them, he said he didn’t think twice about trying to help.

“I remember booking it over there,” Malone said during an interview last week at DeSales. “It’s just how I was raised. I couldn’t sit there and just watch someone drown or get hypothermia.”

As he approached them, one girl was nearly out of the water, he said. He threw off his jacket, giving it to the girl, and ran out onto the ice to aid the second girl, who was further from shore, he said.

“I tried to pull her up, and I ended up getting stuck down there with her,” he said, recounting how he fell through the ice and into the frigid water.

To get free, Malone and the girl started to break the ice from beneath the surface, but struggled, he said. “I didn’t realize how hard it is to get out of there. I kept trying and trying — trying to get her out. 

“I just realized, this could go very south if we don’t get out of here,” he said, noting that he began to panic.

“For an instant, I saw it all in front of me. … It happened so fast, but I just knew that that day was not the day I was meant to die,” he said.

As he struggled in the icy water, Malone said, his grandma came to mind. 

“She’s the most influential person in my life,” he said. “She helps people before she helps herself. She’s an angel, really. I love her.”

Senior Brandon Malone smiled at DeSales High School after an interview Jan. 23. Malone was involved in the rescue of two girls who fell through ice at McNeely Lake Park on Jan. 17. (Record Photo by Olivia Castlen)

“When something like that happens, you just don’t know if that’s your last day,” he said. But, “God came into play,” he said.

At that point, Malone said, his adrenaline kicked in, and his efforts to break the ice became more successful. Soon after, they made a path to the shore as firefighters arrived.

“I truly think that God had something to do” with it, he said.  

In the days since the rescue, Malone said his perspective of the event has widened, particularly during a discussion in his theology class with DeSales teacher Deacon Chris McDonell. 

Malone believes God put him in the right place at the right time, he said. “That was not just something out of the blue.”

Malone was recognized by Mayor Craig Greenberg on Jan. 28 at B.A. Colonial restaurant, located near DeSales, and by the Okolona Fire Department on Jan. 29 at DeSales.

Olivia Castlen
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Olivia Castlen
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