WOOSTER, OH—A young boy faces life-threatening injuries after he, his brother and grandfather fell through the ice on an Ohio farm pond on Sunday.
An onlooker called Wayne County dispatchers a little before 11 a.m. to report the three had fallen through the ice on a pond on South Eckard Road in Sugar Creek Township just south of the village of Dalton, according to Capt. Doug Hunter of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
Dalton is approximately 100 miles northeast of Columbus.
Todd Farris, 56, works as a farmhand on the property and brought his two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to work with him. The two boys ventured out on the ice and it broke below them. Farris attempted to rescue them, but he also fell through the ice.
East Wayne Fire Department Chief Kyle Nussbaum and another firefighter arrived first on the scene in their personal vehicles. The firefighters first rescued the 6-year-old boy, who was partially submerged in the pond, according to Nussbaum.
The boy was not breathing when they got him to shore, and they started performing CPR. Rescuers were able to get him breathing again before transporting him to Aultman Orrville Hospital. The firefighters then rescued the boy's grandfather and got him to shore.
Once Farris was rescued, the firefighters were alerted that his 4-year-old grandson also fell through the ice and was fully submerged. The rescuer dove back into the water and found the boy but when they got him to shore, the boy had no pulse. They immediately started advanced life support as they transported him to the hospital in Orrville.
Both boys were then transported from Orrville to Akron Children's Hospital, where the 4-year-old was in life-threatening condition.
"Our deputies gave credit to the firefighters who responded directly and went into the water to rescue them," Hunter said.
One rescuer was evaluated on the scene for mild hypothermia, but was not hospitalized.
The minimum thickness to walk on ice is four inches of new, clear ice, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The ODNR says to check the thickness before stepping onto the ice. Ice near the shore tends to be weaker due to expansion and warming. A minimum of five inches of ice is recommended for safe enjoyment of ice skating, ice fishing, ice boating and snowmobiling on state park lakes.
Hunter cautioned that no amount of ice is really safe and the thickness of the ice can vary from one area of the body of water to another.
"No ice is ever safe ice," Nussbaum said and Hunter added, "People should practice extreme caution when venturing onto frozen bodies of water.
———
©2019 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)
Visit The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) at www.dispatch.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
