FDNY Rescues Young Boy From Ice On Bronx River
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A boy and was left stranded and scared amid chunks of ice and frigid water in the Bronx River Thursday afternoon, before FDNY crews came to the rescue.
As CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported, the 10-year-old boy had walked out onto the ice with a female friend of about the same age, and firefighters said it all could have ended in tragedy.
The Bronx River is frigid, and the current is fierce. Firefighters late Thursday afternoon had to act fast to save the young boy stranded on the ice, on the river near Westchester Avenue, in the Soundview section of the Bronx.
It took a ladder, and two experienced cold-water rescue firefighters, to get the boy out from the ice and onto shore.
FDNY Rescues Young Boy From Ice On Bronx River
The boy was with a female friend who herself had fallen in, and then gotten herself out, just minutes before the rescue crews got there.
"When I made contact with him, he was just really scared," said FDNY Capt. Tom Yuneman of the Ladder Company 54. "I told just him: 'Just stay where you are. We're going to come get you.' He had enough sense to realize to not move."
Firefighters at Ladder 54 are specifically trained in cold-water rescue.
"As we began to make our way down the rocks to him, he began to step forward and we told him to stay still. The ice was very thin," firefighter Chris Harkinish said told 1010 WINS.
Harkinish wore a dry suit and climbed into the Bronx River, working with his partner to pull the boy out.
"We were worried if he moved at all, the ice was so thin, he'd be put under and sucked down the river," Harkinish said.
Harkenish and firefighter Kevin Hillman stretched a ladder across the ice and the boy crawled to safety.
Firefighters did not know why the kids climbed into the ice. People who held their breath for the rescue said the kids' parents were nowhere in sight.
"Luckily, they didn't get hurt," said witness Iris Seele. "Something worse could've happened."
"They could've fallen on the ice and probably died, because the water out here is very, very cold," said witness Raquel Hernandez.
But fortunately, boy was brought to safety, and he and his friend were taken to Jacobi Medical Center. They were released just hours later.
It was a rescue that the firefighters would prefer not to repeat.
"No matter how thick you think it is, do not go on the ice," Harkinish said.
One of the firefighters in the rescue actually fell into the water and was in up to his chin. He was also taken to Jacobi for cold water exposure.
