Mom of toddler: ‘He is her guardian angel’

Kaitlyn Winoker would have drowned if off-duty paramedic Joel Arnier had not been fishing on the Fox River near McHenry Tuesday afternoon, the 20-month-old girl’s mother said Thursday.

“She would have died,” said Trisha Schuler, 39. “He is the one who saved her. He is her guardian angel, definitely.”

Schuler said it took less than five minutes for Kaitlyn, her twin brother, Kyle, and 3-year-old sister, Kylie, to escape from the living room of the two-story house on Colby Drive to the river’s edge, about 25 yards from the backdoor. Five other children were also in the house at the time.

“The kids were playing in the living room and I went upstairs to brush my hair,” Schuler said. “I came back down four or five minutes later and I couldn’t hear them.”

Schuler said she looked around the house and then saw Kyle and Kylie on the shore line. Kaitlyn was face down in the water.

“I picked her up out of the water and brought her to shore,” Schuler said. “I was screaming and the neighbor heard me and called 911.”

An off-duty firefighter-paramedic from the Addison Fire Department also heard the 39-year-old’s frantic screams. Joel Arnier, 53, was fishing on a boat nearby. He rushed over and began administering CPR to the unresponsive girl.

At first, mouth-to-mouth did not work because there was too much river water in Kaitlyn’s lungs. Arnier then continued with chest compressions until Kaitlyn took one breath, followed by another.

Just over 48 hours after the ordeal, Kaitlyn, who is now in her uncle’s care, is behaving like a normal 1-year-old, Schuler said.

“She is running around and eating and doing what she usually does,” Schuler said.

For now, the eight children ranging in age from 20 months to 16 years old, are in the care of relatives after the Department of Child and Family Services removed them from the home.

Schuler is scheduled to appear before a judge on Friday to determine if the children can return to her care. Schuler said DCFS wanted more locks on the doors and some repairs to be made.

“They are all done and now I am just waiting for their phone call to come and look at the house,” Schuler said.