Retired teacher makes a ‘splash’

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2009, was a day to remember for Marie Johnson, a recently retired Blount County school teacher. Marie had been a resource teacher for 21 years in the Blount system, but on this day she made a “splash.”

Marie let her eight-month-old rat terrier puppy “Scootie” out for a run in the pasture and then took her three-month-old puppy for a “short trip” in the yard. She noticed Scootie in the pond struggling to swim with only her head sticking out of the ice. She had run out on the ice and fallen through about 10 feet from the shore and, since she was in a hole in the ice, she was unable to claw or swim her way out and was only treading water.

Marie yelled to her husband before she went out that she was going to get Scootie, who had fallen in the lake. Her husband threw on his windbreaker over his boxers and had only that and his house slippers on as he followed Marie to the pond.

By the time he reached the pond, Marie was walking out on the ice and then fell face first through the ice and into the cold water. She managed to get herself up and grab Scootie, but she could not get back to land, even though the water was only three feet deep, because the ice was blocking her return.

Marie’s husband stepped carefully onto the ice and, with only a minimum amount of water on his house slippers, grabbed Scootie by the nape of her neck and basically threw her to the shore. He then reached back to take Marie’s hand so she could finally get out of the water.

Both teacher and dog recovered quickly after Marie got into a warm tub and then gave Scootie one, too.

Since then, Marie has been receiving invitations from the Polar Bear Club to ask if she wanted to join.

When asked why she did it, Marie simply said, “I don’t know.” She also said, “We need to tell people to watch their animals better than I did!” You can contact her at rmj_mhj@bellsouth.net.