Jonathon Ball

Jonathon Ball helped save Kristin Barbiea from drowning, Florence, Kentucky, January 12, 2025. About an hour after sunset, Barbiea, 47, was walking her dogs near a partially ice-covered pond at the center of her apartment complex when her leashed goldendoodle escaped her grasp. The dog then ran onto the ice before falling into a 30- foot diameter hole in the ice about 100 feet from the bank. Barbiea attempted to retrieve the dog, afraid it might drown. She successfully reached the dog and pulled it up and onto the ice, but the ice broke beneath her feet, sending her and the dog into the water. Unable to grasp the edge of the crumbling ice sheet, Barbiea called out for help while attempting to keep herself and the dog above water. After about 10 minutes, a neighbor heard her and phoned 911. Meanwhile, a police officer on duty nearby responded to the scene. The officer army crawled across the ice to Barbiea, at which point he attempted to help her exit the pond but was unsuccessful. Ball, 34, sheriff’s sergeant, was also dispatched to the scene. The police officer instructed Ball to follow the path he had crawled to Barbiea. Fully clothed, Ball ventured out onto the ice and crawled on his hands and knees about 100 feet to the officer and Barbiea, at which point he grasped the officer by the boot, and, with officer pulling on Barbiea, they pulled Barbiea up and onto the ice. Ball and the officer then stood and each grasped one of Barbiea’s arms before dragging her across the ice to shallow water near the bank, where responding emergency personnel helped them move her to safety on land. Barbiea was transported to the hospital, where emergency personnel cut off her water-soaked clothing before providing her with heated blankets. Ball described feeling cold and fatigued following the incident; he recovered.

2025-0000035-10520