The man who, with the help of his dog, helped to rescue two little girls from the icy waters of the North Saskatchewan River over the weekend told CTV News his side of the story Monday - a move the family of the two little girls told CTV News they're grateful for.

Adam Shaw was at Rundle Park in Edmonton’s river valley when he spotted two girls, Samara, 9 and Krymzen, 10, who had fallen through the ice at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

“The one girl was trying to pull her sister out, so I yelled to them to get their attention, trying to tell them to hang onto the ice and stay there,” Shaw said. “I was going to go down and get them, but you know they were panicking, and the young girl who was in the water was away from the ice so she couldn’t hang on.

“I just kind of dropped everything and grabbed Rocky and we just ran down to try and help somehow.”

Rocky is Shaw’s Husky-Labrador Cross – and he played a major role in the harrowing rescue.

When the pair made it to the river’s edge, Shaw pulled Krymzen out of the water – but the other child had been swept away by the current, and was out of reach.

That’s where Rocky came to the rescue, the dog jumped into the water and swam to Samara, she managed to grab onto the dog’s leash, and he pulled her to safety.

“I knew if she could get ahold of the leash that she would be ok, and if she could hang on,” Shaw said. “I didn’t know if she could use her arms at all, that’s what I was worried about.”

Firefighters on the scene said both of the girls suffered hypothermia; Samara’s case was more serious than her sister’s.

CTV News spoke with Miranda Wagner, the mother of the two girls – who said doctors at the hospital told her Samara was pulled out of the water just in time.

Wagner said Samara not only had hypothermia, but suffered a number of cuts and scratches to her whole body, she was released at midnight.

Krymzen was released after six hours in hospital.

“It’s lucky that this citizen happened along when he did, because you’re not going to last very long in that cold water at this time of year,” District Fire Chief John Bower said.

Wagner is thankful for Shaw’s efforts, and hopes to meet him one day.

“I would just hug him, and tell him he's my hero,” Wagner said. "If he wasn't there, I wouldn't have my girls.

"I keep thinking that God put him at that place to save my kids."

"He's my hero, he saved me," Samara Wagner-Sunshine said.

Samara said after she was pulled from the water, Shaw, and Rocky both tried to keep her warm while they waited for emergency crews to arrive.

It’s not clear how the little girls ended up on the ice, but officials said it may have been the result of curious exploration – and are using the incident as a reminder to parents that ice conditions are changing throughout the spring melt, and to stay away from the water’s edge.

Shaw said at the time of the incident, he didn’t see any adults around – Wagner said her daughters were playing in the park with three other children, but weren’t allowed near the river.

One other little girl in the group also fell in the water, but was not hurt – the other two ran to tell Samara and Krymzen’s parents what had happened.

A day after the incident, Edmonton Firefighters recognized Shaw and Rocky for their efforts at an Edmonton fire hall.

“These two young ladies are very fortunate that such a family happened along, that were able to intervene,” Edmonton Fire Chief Ken Block said.

A small ceremony was held at Fire Hall #1 in Edmonton Monday afternoon; Shaw was given a commemorative firefighter’s helmet.

Rocky was also rewarded for his work, with a bone.

With files from Susan Amerongen