Suburban Heroes: ComEd crew helps save two from drowning

Members of a four-man ComEd crew who helped pull two people out of the water after a snowmobile accident in Lake County say they did what anyone else would have done.

"We really did think nothing of it," Fox Lake resident Dexter Moore said.

But quick thinking by Moore, Chad Miller of Cary, Don Arcus of Grayslake and West Vanderstappen of Johnsburg, saved two people from drowning after their snowmobiles slipped into the water under the Grass Lake bridge Feb. 8.

While working about 11:55 p.m., the men noticed a person in the water about 60 feet from shore and 60 feet north of bridge, Miller said.

"I looked in the distance as I was walking back to the truck, and I said to Dexter that either someone is ice fishing or a sled went through the ice," Miller said. "We saw a helmet laying near him, so we knew a person fell in."

As Miller, Moore and Vanderstappen ran to the truck to get a rope, Arcus said he started to call 9-1-1. He stopped when he saw a Lake County sheriff's deputy appear on the bridge, look over the side, then disappear.

Moments later, the deputy returned to the bridge and asked the crew to pull the 71-year-old male victim out of the water because the deputy was helping another person nearby.

"A 54-year-old woman - the girlfriend of the older gentleman - was traveling south on her own snowmobile when she also went into the water south of the Grass Lake bridge," said Sgt. Christopher Covelli. "She was able to call 9-1-1 when she was partially submerged in the water."

While the deputy tended to the woman, the crew tossed the male victim a line to get him out of the water. But his frozen hands and state of shock left him unable to break through the ice to pull himself to safety. Miller said the four-man crew worked together to walk out to the man and carry him out.

"When he was free, we turned him over to the sheriff and turned to go under the bridge to help out the lady," Miller said. "But that's when the airboat arrived and pulled her out."

The victims were taken to hospitals and survived.

"I think a lot people would have tried to stop and help," Arcus said. "But they didn't have the ropes and hand lines and equipment we carry on our trucks."

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