How rescue of children mobilized at Third Lake pond

Robert George was beginning his attempt to rescue a boy who had plunged through an icy pond about 100 feet from shore in Third Lake when he briefly considered whether what he was doing was a bad idea.

Hearing the boy scream that he had lost feeling in his legs, George — tethered by a rope around his waist held by people on shore — said he knew he had to continue what turned out to be a successful effort.

“I think I did what most parents would have done for a kid,” George said.

He and others involved in the quick-thinking civilian ice rescue operation of four children gathered near the Mariner's Cove subdivision retention pond Friday to reflect on what happened about 24 hours earlier.

When the excitement dissipated, George said, that's when he was struck by the possibility of how the young lives could have been lost.

“I'm usually good in crisis situations,” he said. “It's afterward, when everything is calm, when you fall apart.”

Grayslake Fire Protection District officials said none of the four children were injured and all were treated by paramedics at the scene. Officials don't know how long three boys — ages 16, 10 and 9 — and a 12-year-old girl were in the frigid water.

It was a rescue that started when an innocuous observation foreshadowed the near tragic events.

Maribeth Rauch was driving on Mainsail Drive near the pond with her 16-year-old daughter, Katie, and 17-year-old Maggie Stojak, while following a friend, Izabela Stepien.

That's when the teens noticed the four neighborhood children on the retention pond ice.

“We first saw them and they were still above the ice and they were walking,” Stojak said. “And we were just saying how unsafe that was because it's 40 degrees out. And then we came around this curve and they were screaming.”

Both girls told Maribeth Rauch the children had crashed through the ice and were in the water. Rauch pulled into Stepien's driveway across from the pond.

“She yelled, ‘There are kids in the pond,'” Stepien said.

Stepien reacted by quickly bringing rope to the retention pond. Ryan Dugan, 9, was already was safe. However, Stepien and the teenage girls had to help pull in 10-year-old Joey Wessely and his sister Mary, 12.

“My whole body started feeling numb,” Joey said.

All four children were simply walking on the ice when they noticed it was getting thinner and were ready to return to land, Mary Wessely said.

“Then I hear the cracking under my feet and I look down, but before I could take another step I was in the water first,” she said. “Then I see all my other friends going in after me.”

George was working at home on his computer when his daughters rushed in to tell him about the trouble at the pond. He said he doesn't remember if he even looked for traffic when he ran across the street to the water.

He grabbed the rope from Stepien, tied it around his waist and reached the unidentified boy about 100 feet from shore. George had to smash through ice he estimated was about 1 inch thick and wade in water that was gradually getting deeper.

After the boy climbed on George's back, people on shore pulled the two in with the rope. The path George made through the ice to save the boy remained visible Friday afternoon.

While he said he didn't notice the chill when he first got in the water, it came on later. He said his vital signs were checked in an ambulance, and he was a little achy on Friday.

Grayslake fire officials said the water reached the children's chest or chins as they held an ice shelf. Officials said the main concern was hypothermia, which can take as little as two minutes to set in.

Fred Wessely, father of Joey and Mary, said George performed “a true heroic act” to save the boy in the icy water. George, standing near Wessely, was humbled by the compliment.

Third Lake Village President Gary Beggan said he expects officials will recognize those who helped the children with a resolution or proclamation. He said the goal is for officials to receive details about what happened at a village board committee discussion March 5, with the formal honors coming two weeks later.

Beggan said Third Lake is a town where neighborliness is a typical way of life. George agreed.

“We've got a good neighborhood here,” George said. “I remember last year, when we had the big blizzard, everybody was out here and we were helping everybody shovel off their different driveways and stuff. We're just out here to take care of each other, good neighbors and stuff.”