Operations & Training

Kan. FFs Save Boy Who Fell Through Ice

Dec. 22, 2009

SHAWNEE, Kan. -- Crews rescued a 13-year-old boy who fell into a pond Monday afternoon in Shawnee. Joe Clopton and his brothers had been walking on the pond on the southeast corner of Pflumm Road and Shawnee Mission Parkway when he fell through the ice and couldn't get out. About 100 feet out, and all that was showing was his head and shoulders above the ice," Firefighter John Mattox said. "As he was trying to prop himself up, the ice was giving way around him."

SHAWNEE, Kan. --

Crews rescued a 13-year-old boy who fell into a pond Monday afternoon in Shawnee.

Joe Clopton and his brothers had been walking on the pond on the southeast corner of Pflumm Road and Shawnee Mission Parkway when he fell through the ice and couldn't get out.

About 100 feet out, and all that was showing was his head and shoulders above the ice," Firefighter John Mattox said. "As he was trying to prop himself up, the ice was giving way around him."

Joe was in the cold water for about 10 minutes before firefighters pulled him out. He was taken to a hospital with a body core temperature of 90 degrees.

"When you get around 90 degrees, you have a chance of going into cardiac arrest," Mattox said.

The teen told crews he was OK.

"Being in the water that long, your systems are going to shut down. Blood flows away, you're not going to be OK -- you're not going to be able to move and then your thought processes are going to be compromised," Mattox said.

The boys' stepfather said they thought the ice was thick enough.

Joe is expected to recover.

KMBC's Jim Flink reported that if a neighbor hadn't seen the boy fall and reacted quickly, the outcome could have been much worse.

Crews Save Boy Who Fell Into Icy Pond