Passer-by pulls boy from swollen Des Plaines River
Cynthia York and Orlando Mazzulla saw the boy sitting on the concrete wall, overlooking the Des Plaines River.
Like him, they had come to this area of River Road in downtown Des Plaines Monday morning to see for themselves the normally placid river transformed into an angry waterway, rushing wildly downstream.
When they looked back, the boy had disappeared.
"The kid was sitting on the viaduct (near River Road and Northwest Highway) and then he was gone," York said.
They realized he was in the river.
Mazzulla didn't think about it. He immediately went into the water to save the boy.
"He dove in head first," York said. "Then I ran up the street to try and catch them."
The current was vicious, but after a struggle Mazzulla reached the 16-year-old and grabbed ahold of him. York and others on land ran over to try to help bring them to shore.
"Someone was hanging onto my ankles," York said as she leaned out over the water trying to grab both the boy and Mazzulla.
"They went under (water) many times," she said, adding she thought at one point Mazzulla might not make it out.
Eventually, with the help of Des Plaines officers Brian Hart and Matt Muchow, the boy, Mazzulla and another unidentified man who had jumped in to help were all pulled to safety.
The whole incident, York said, lasted no longer than five minutes.
"It happened so fast," she said.
Wally Hoffman of Mount Prospect was taking scenic black and white photos of the flooded river Monday when he heard screams.
"I heard people shouting about a man in the river and I looked to my left and two heads went bobbing by," Hoffman said.
Mazzulla, Hoffman said, is a lifesaver.
"The man is an incredible hero," Hoffman said. "He totally risked his life."
Des Plaines police Cmdr. Bill Prim said Monday afternoon they are still investigating why and how the 16-year-old ended up in the water.
Prim said the teenager did not suffer any serious injuries during his dunking.
Mazzulla spent the rest of the day at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital getting checked out (and "decontaminated," York added) and then came home to sleep.
York said neither of them consider themselves heroes.
"Everybody who was there helped out," she said.