Oak Forest Man Heroically Pulls Boy from Icy Pond

posted Jan. 6, 2014, 10 pm

A shortcut home from school could have abruptly ended a life Tuesday if not for the quick thinking of neighbors and fast action of first responders.

Oak Forest resident Joe Conway was one of the first on the scene where a 13-year-old boy had fallen through ice on a pond near 71st and Dexter in Downers Grove—and he was just seconds from surrendering to the water’s icy grip.

En route to the call, Conway and his fellow first responders were formulating a plan on how to pull the boy from the water. As they neared the scene, Conway found himself hoping he would be out by the time they arrived, ”because we know just how deadly falling through ice can be.”

By the time they arrived, the boy had nearly stopped fighting the frigid water after flailing for what he estimated was 20 minutes before neighbors heard his cries for help.

“He wasn’t struggling anymore, he was seconds from going completely under,” one first responder told WGN.

Conway and his team could see he wasn’t moving, and only his face, hands and feet were visible as the rest of his body began to sink. The crew jumped into “go” mode immediately, without time to even step into their wetsuits.

“We just worked to cut his clothes off as quick as we could, picked him back up, dried him off from head to toe,” Conway told WGN, “and wrapped him up in as many warm blankets as we could. ... Got a couple warm IVs started, warm him from the inside, got him to the hospital as quick as we could.”

Warm saline was pumped into his bloodstream to help raise his body temperature, before he was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

The call hit close to home for Conway, a father to an 18-year-old son and two daughters.

“Situations like this remind me that in the blink of an eye, things can change for the worst,” Conway told Patch. “I tell my kids all the time: make good decisions. That 13-year-old was simply taking a shortcut home from school and in an instant nearly lost his life.”

The incident should serve as a reminder for all, Conway said.

“Kids need to be careful,” he said. “It simply has not been cold long enough for most ponds to be safe.”

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