Naperville firefighters, police rescue child from frozen pond

NAPERVILLE, Illinois (Sun Times Media Wire) - An 11-year-old boy was rescued by Naperville firefighters and police officers after he fell through the ice of an artificial lake Sunday afternoon in the west suburb.

At 4:49 p.m., first responders got a call from someone who saw a child slipping into the water of a frozen retention pond near an apartment complex in the 1300 block of McDowell Road, according to a statement from the Naperville Fire Department.

The 11-year-old was spotted in the center of the mostly ice-covered pond and told rescuers that his feet were trapped in the mud at the bottom, the fire department said.

A Naperville police sergeant tossed out a red rescue disc while a firefighter waded into the pond to assist him, the fire department said.

In video of the rescue, the boy swims over to the disc and hugs it as the fire crew pulls him toward the pond’s snow-covered embankment.

Four minutes after arriving on scene, responders successfully got the 11-year-old out of the waters, the fire department said. He was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville.

No firefighters were injured during the rescue.