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Grandmother: Boy Rescued On Bronx River Ice Had Walked Out Of After-School Program

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An 11-year-old boy should have known better than to go out onto the ice and put himself into a situation where fire crews had to rescue him, the boy's grandmother said Friday.

She also said her grandson had walked out on his after-school program, and those running the program said nothing about it to the family.

As CBS2's Sonia Rincon reported, the FDNY Ladder Company 54 had to pluck Rahquan Brooks, 11, from the river near Westchester Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx.

The boy was stranded, and two FDNY rescuers themselves crashed into the freezing river when they got close to the boy.

A life preserver was thrown and a ladder was extended, and everyone walked out alive.

But Rahquan was terrified as he stood precariously on the thin ice, according to his grandmother, Annette Ingram.

Ingram said she and her daughter thought Rahquan was safe inside his after school program, at I.S. 131 the Albert Einstein School in the Bronx. But he and his friend, a 13-year-old boy who lived nearby, walked out and decided to try ice skating on the river.

The other boy got out and called 911, but Rahquan was stuck.

"He knew better than to go down there," Ingram said.

She says the school never let Rahquan's mother know he'd left, and when she found out, she was furious.

"He was crying, and my daughter made him go over to the fireman that was there that saved him, and he apologized to him," Ingram said. "And he will never do that again, hopefully."

Ingram expressed deep gratitude for the firefighters involved in the rescue.

"I was so proud of them; I was so happy," she said.

Other firefighters were back at the very same spot on Friday, training for the next ice rescue and helping teach a new member how it's done.

"We just showed him, without any other devices, putting him in with the water suit. And then we used the boat so we could get the kids, or whoever's in the water or in the ice falling through – put them in the boat, and you saw, we could just get them back in a lot quicker," said FDNY Lt. Mickey Conboy.

As for Rahquan, his grandmother said he was feeling fine on Friday. But his mother was not too happy with him, or with the after school program.

"She's going to change his school, because you know, that's not safe just for him to walk out like that," Ingram said. "That's not safe at all."

The Department of Youth and Community Development runs the after school program at I.S. 131, and said it is investigating Rahquan's mother's concerns and will take corrective action if necessary.

A firefighter who rescued Raqhuan had to be hospitalized for cold water exposure, but he was doing well Friday night, as was Rahquan himself.

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