Boys Rescued After Falling Through Ice On Frankfort Pond

FRANKFORT, IL — It was a neighbor to the rescue after two boys, ages 10 and 11, fell through the ice on a pond in Frankfort Sunday night. Cruz Genet, 11, told NBC Chicago he and a friend were looking to go ice skating and see some ducks when the ice cracked and they fell through. The boys struggled to get out of the frigid water but the ice was too thin and kept breaking each time they made an attempt, Cruz said.

The incident took place in the Stonecreek subdivision, where Cruz's friend, identified as 10-year-old Anthony, was immersed in the water up to his neck, according to Fox Chicago.

Luckily, neighbor John Lavin was close by and rushed to the rescue, pulling the two boys to safety. Lavin told Fox he grabbed a buoy and jumped into the icy water.

"Hulk smash" is how he described his rescue effort to NBC, saying he broke through the ice — "any way to get through it" — to get to the boys.

A day after the frightening water rescue, Cruz met with Lavin to thank him. "I cannot repay him," the 11-year-old reportedly told his neighbor. "... if he wasn't there, I could have died."

According to Fox Chicago, the boys' parents said they were in the icy water for as long as five minutes before Lavin rescued them. By the time they got to a nearby hospital, their body temperatures had dropped nearly 10 degrees, but both are doing well a day after the incident, Fox reported.

Fire officials warn that it's never a good idea to venture out onto a frozen pond or river, no matter how thick the ice looks. "There is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice," according to a suburban fire department. "If someone does fall through ice the best way to help them is to immediately call 9-1-1 so rescue personnel can be on their way," officials said. If possible, they added, throw the person a rope to help pull them to shore.

If you do fall through the ice, fire officials offered these tips:

Don't remove your coat or other protective clothing. Face the direction you were coming from and put you arms out flat over the unbroken ice. While doing this, kick your feet to try and move yourself forward back onto the ice surface. If you're able to get out of the water and back onto the ice surface stay in a laying position and roll away from the broken ice back in the direction you came from. Laying flat will more evenly distribute your weight over the ice surface as opposed to standing up. This will hopefully prevent you from falling through the ice again. Once you get to safety, you need to go to a warm area to prevent hypothermia.

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