Naperville Fire & PD Rescue Boy From Frozen Pond

Naperville fire and police rescued an 11-year-old boy who had fallen through the ice of a retention pond Sunday.

Around 5pm on Sunday afternoon, the Naperville Fire Department received a 911 call that a child had fallen into the pond at an apartment complex on McDowell Road. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene within four minutes of the call.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Firefighter Mike Leston got in the frigid water and swam out to the boy.

“You just want to get in, react as quick as possible and get out of the water,” Leston said.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Edward Hospital and is expected to be OK.

“He was obviously very cold, frightened, and shaken up” said Leston, who pulled the boy to safety.

“When you hear a child in the water, it’s a natural reaction, you level of excitement rises,” said firefighter Jay Switak, who talked the boy through every step.

“I just told him to stay above the water and look at me the whole time. He was totally composed and that made it easier to give verbal commands. That made the rescue easy.”

The boy told firefighters he realized he made a mistake. Firefighters said the incident was an important lesson to pay attention to signs that warn residents to stay out of retention ponds.