Utah boy saved after going through ice

On Christmas Day, an eightyear-old boy was chasing his dog across a frozen pond in southwest Utah when he fell through the ice about eight metres from the shore.

Another child who saw him fall into the pond ran back to tell the boy’s parents. Minutes later, Washington County Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Thompson arrived at the site in New Harmony and, without a moment’s hesitation, went out on the ice.

Thompson, 46, a certified rescue diver, knew the icy water would be unbearable. Temperatures in the small town, population 220 in 2016, can average as low as -6C in December. He said he also knew he had to work quickly — that he had just seconds to save the boy.

He walked a few feet out onto the pond, then stomped on the ice before diving into the biting water, he told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, according to KSL.com. Once he was in, he used his arms and fists to break a path through the ice to where he thought the boy might be.

When the ice became too thick for his hands and fists to crack, he jumped on top of it, hoping his weight could puncture it. The further into the pond he went, the deeper it became, he said. The frigid water soon reached his neck. Thompson couldn’t reach the bottom of the pond but felt reeds near his toes. He floated along them, using them as a guide.

His chest was constricting from the cold water and he was having trouble breathing, he said. He became desperate as time passed, and with it the likelihood of the boy’s survival. Then he looked back at the shore.

“Those people were standing on the shore and looking over at me,” he said. “I remember what it was like going to the shore and telling people I wasn’t able to rescue their child. I gave it that one extra pass to try to find that little boy.”

He called out, “Come on little buddy, where are ya?” though he knew the boy couldn’t hear him.

Then he saw the boy’s body float up from the ice. He grabbed him and put his arm under him to lift his head out of the water, then started to swim, pulling the boy back to shore.

“Just make it back to shore, just make it back,” he said to himself, KSL.com reported.

Officials estimate the boy was in the cold water for about 30 minutes. Once on shore, a helicopter took him to Primary Children’s Hospital. Hospital officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The boy was still there, breathing but sedated, as of Tuesday afternoon, friends and family told KSL.com. The extent of his injuries aren’t clear. His dog survived, sheriff ’s officials said.

Thompson told KSL.com the boy was able to survive in part because of the cold water.

“That slows down their metabolism, all their body functions,” he told reporters. “And kind of forces the blood back into the main systems.”

Thompson was in the water for several minutes, rescue officials told KSL. com. He was taken to a hospital and treated for hypothermia and cuts. He suffered nerve damage in his hands and needed stitches for a cut on the forearm he used to break through the ice. He was released from the hospital Monday.