Local Fund Created to Honor Heroic Rescue

Photo Courtesy of Gary O’Brien

Marietta, OH– When Gary O’Brien woke up on June 13th, little did he know that he would be saving a life and creating a legacy at Marietta Community Foundation at the same time. On that eventful morning, O’Brien would become the hero of a story and the inspiration for the creation of the “Dutch & O’Brien Act of Kindness Fund”… a fund that will continue to support Washington County for years to come.

Renee Gilmer stood in terror as she witnessed the fourth rescue team fail to retrieve her 10-year-old Black Lab, Dutch, who had fallen into an 18-inch pond overflow pipe during a game of fetch. Gilmer knew Dutch’s last chance was dwindling… but what she didn’t know was that salvation was located over 100 miles away.

In a last-ditch effort, Gilmer Google searched “confined space rescue” and clicked on the first company listed; luckily for her and Dutch, it would be the only company they needed.

“One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life was to leave Dutch in that pipe overnight knowing that he was still alive,” said Gilmer. “I stood at the ravine for 3 hours calling for him and had a flashlight in my hand.  I could see his eyes and he would bark and cry at me but the rescue teams couldn't get a rope through the pipe and had to call off the rescue.”

At approximately 7:00 a.m., Gary O’Brien received a call from a very tired, and a very upset Gilmer. By that point, Dutch had already been confined to the 18-ich pipe for approximately 12 hours. After falling 75 feet down, Dutch was now stuck at the pipe’s elbow, approximately 200 feet away from the pipe’s outlet.

O’Brien assembled his team which included himself, Travis Sandford, Tracy Sandford, and Carri Tucker. Knowing that Dutch’s time was getting shorter, the team raced to Avella, PA. The team arrived on-seen at approximately 1:30 p.m., by that point Dutch had been stuck for almost 20 hours. They snapped into action and began evaluating the scene.

“We weren’t going to attempt the rescue without knowing that it wasn’t 100-percent certain that we could do this safely and our employee would be able to perform the work without being injured,” said O’Brien.

Tucker Preparing to Enter Pipe

Once the final safety checks were complete, Tucker began the long, arduous 200-foot crawl towards Dutch.

Tucker finally reached him, and though he was cold and wet, he did not appear to have any injuries. Before giving the signal to her team 200 feet away, she had to reposition the 90-lbs. dog inside of the small space. Eventually, Gilmer received the news she had been wanting to hear since the previous evening… Dutch was going to be okay.

About 10 minutes after Tucker tied the rope to Dutch, the two were free; Tucker was reunited with her team and Dutch was reunited with Gilmer.

Although Gilmer could now breathe easily, what the O’Brien team did next took her breath away. As if the heroic rescue wasn’t enough, the Marietta based company refused to accept payment for their services.

“We all knew that this just fell into the category of the right thing to do,” said O’Brien. “This was somebody who had one of their family members fall down an overflow tube in a pond and anything we could do to help… we were going to try to help.”

Wanting to repay the kindness in some way, Gilmer created a fund at Marietta Community Foundation in honor of the June 13th’s events. The Fund is called “Dutch & O’Brien’s Act of Kindness Fund,” which will help support local nonprofits in the area each year.

Twice a year, the Foundation welcomes Washington County nonprofits to apply to their grant cycles for funding for programs and projects that benefit the community. With one cycle in the spring and the other in the fall, the Foundation is able to award hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

The new fund created in honor of O’Brien’s rescue will be added to the financial pool that supports these projects and programs throughout the county.

“I am so grateful to Gary and his team and I really need to pay this forward to try to help other people in some way,” said Gilmer.

Members of the community are invited to honor Gary O’Brien and the rest of the staff at O’Brien’s Safety Services by donating to the “Dutch & O’Brien’s Act of Kindness Fund.” If you’re an animal lover, a local philanthropist, or you want to help Gilmer pay the kindness forward in such a bleak time, the Foundation is awaiting your call.

Marietta Community Foundation works to improve Washington County through grants and initiatives, if you want to honor O’Brien’s Safety act of kindness, please contact Heather Allender at 740-373-3286 or heather@mcfohio.org.