Family that fell through ice with 3-month-old baby rescued by passersby near Igloolik

It was a terrifyingly close call for a family with a three-month-old baby last weekend, when their sled plunged through the ice near Igloolik, Nunavut.

Another family stopped and set up camp to keep soaked family of 5 warm

CBC News Posted: Jun 28, 2018 12:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 28, 2018

Glenn Iyyiraq, back left, holds his seven-year-old son, while Pauline Amaaq, at centre, holds their baby. Pauline's brother, Noah Amaaq, sits beside them on the right. (Pauline Amaaq/Facebook)

It was a terrifyingly close call for a family with a three-month-old baby last weekend,when theyplunged through the ice near Igloolik, Nunavut.

Pauline Amaaq and her partnerGlennIyyiraqplanned a trip to take their seven-year-old son and three-month-old baby ice fishing.

'I'm drowning. I'm drowning,' is what my boy was saying.- Pauline Amaaq

After hearing about their trip, Pauline's brother, Noah Amaaq, also joined in at the last minute.

Pauline's three-month-old son was saved from icy waters recently when the family's sled fell through the ice. (Pauline Amaaq/Facebook)

Pauline said the family of five travelled about 40 minutes southwest of Igloolikand set up camp.

Glenn went searching for routes to get to some fishing holes, and sawother families ice fishing in a different area.

"We got really excited and started looking for a path," said Pauline, who was on the qamutik a traditional Inuit sled attached to the snowmobile along with her brother and her two kids in tow, while Glenn dragged them by snowmobile.

But along the way, Pauline said the sled started slowly sinking through the ice. Pauline, her kids, and her brother were inside a small shelter on the sled as it took on water.

Pauline said Glennjumped in the water to try to rescue them, but he didn't know how to swim.

Once he got all warm and fed, he started to smile again.- Pauline Amaaq

Noahmanaged to get free of the sled and saved Glenn first.

"Noah saw Glenn starting to drown ... Noah pulled him out right away," said Pauline.

But Noah's work was far from over Pauline'sseven-year-oldson was in trouble.

The qamutik a traditional Inuit sled attached to the snowmobile pictured here started slowly sinking while Pauline Amaaq and her family were looking for a spot to go ice fishing. Pauline, her brother Noah, and her two young boys were inside a small shelter on the sled as it started sinking. (Pauline Amaaq/Facebook)

"'I'm drowning, I'm drowning,' is what my boy was saying. But my poor boy had no clue he was saying that," said Pauline, in Inuktitut.

Her brother Noah pulled the seven-year-old to safety, and Pauline and her baby managed to stay afloat on the qamutik.

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Passersbyto the rescue

While the family was soaking wet, another family heading home drove by and saw the chaos.

The passing family rescued Pauline and her relatives throwing a rope to help get the mother and her baby out of the water. Then, they set up a tent and got the stove going for them to warm up, said Pauline.

She said her three-month-old boy really needed the heat.

"When I wanted to feed him, poor boy was all weak and cold So I fed him and warmed him up. Once he got all warm and fed, he started to smile again," said Pauline.

The family headed back to the community the next day, grateful for the passersby andNoah.