A young boy is lucky to be alive after crashing through an ice-covered lake into below-freezing water on Monday, requiring a swift response from Rockland Hatzolah and Chaverim.
The terrifying incident occurred when two young children were playing on the frozen Suzanne Lake in Monsey, when the sheet of ice they were standing on began to crack. One of the boys, who was near the edge of the lake, was able to scramble onto solid ground, but the other wasn’t as lucky.
Too deep to get to land, the boy crashed through the ice and began floating in the freezing water. His life was at imminent risk, as the body cannot handle such cold temperatures for more than a few minutes.
A bystander who witnessed what was happening called Hatzolah and leapt into the water to save the child. Moments later, a bus driver stopped his packed school vehicle and joined in attempting to save the young boy’s life.
Just seconds later, Rockland Hatzolah and Rockland Chaverim members pulled up to the scene, joining the urgent rescue effort.
Unable to immediately get the child out, the rescuers called for more help, and a Chaverim member who arrived at the scene bringing a ladder from his car on which the child was placed and removed from the icy depths. Ropes were then used to drag the men still in the freezing water to safety.
The child was treated at the scene by Hatzolah before being transported to Westchester Medical Center for observation.
Parents are urgently reminded never to allow their children to play on frozen lakes. The ice can be far thinner than imagined, and a fun game can quickly chalila turn into a tragedy.
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5 Responses
B”H! And the parents were where . . . ?
Takah,
9 year olds are old enough to play by themselves, without parents hovering over them. This lake seems to be right near a residential area, this does not constitute negligence. .
2scents I guess if it was your kid youd feel differently.
As a new comer to the tribe, I would say from observation and experience the main problem is a lack of educating their children with learning about danger and risks. Lack of fear in face warning signs, and warning signals ex. I recently took a domestic work for a family and one day I explained to the children Why we wash and peel fruits and vegetables. From age 12 down to the youngest none of them had heard of pesticides. Another ex. I can show you a video actually of a borough park Chassidishe little boy, climbing up onto the rooftops of a house carefully holding onto the electrical wires for stability. He had no idea that those wires are dangerous to touch for humans. It was a goy who caught this on video and was cursing the “stupidpeople”
Why wasn’t this boy instilled with knowledge or fear? It could’ve been fatal.
They walked home from a nearby cheder. Mothers couldn’t have been there.