'Tragedy was averted': How Glen Ellyn students saved man from drowning
It was an idyllic evening on Lake Ellyn, the kind of summer night for a coming-of-age adventure.
Four close friends like to wander around the neighborhood lake in Glen Ellyn. They practically live there all summer long. On this night, they heard the distressing sounds of a man struggling in the water.
The four boys are on the cusp of adolescence, about as old as the heroes in “The Goonies” and “Stand by Me.” Declan Devlin, his twin brother Tiernan, Tommy Nitti and Charlie Valerio attend Forest Glen Elementary School. They are only in the fifth grade. But they are fearless in the face of a crisis.
The man had tried to swim out to a broken, radio-controlled boat and began to falter. He yelled for help.
Charlie heard the initial screams and alerted Tommy and Declan. They immediately ran to Tommy's nearby house and retrieved a kayak and life vests.
Declan and Tommy paddled out to the man in the lake. They gave him a life preserver and then took turns paddling the inflatable kayak back to shore while the man held on.
“What I just described was confirmed by several witnesses at the park,” said Glen Ellyn Police Chief Philip Norton, recalling how the boys rushed to the man's aid. “There is little doubt that but for the quick actions of these young men, tragedy was averted.”
Norton, Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 school board members and Superintendent Melissa Kaczkowski honored the young men on Monday night for stepping up to save a stranger.
“How did you immediately know what to do?” asked school board President Robert Bruno.
Declan Devlin had gone white-water rafting a few days before. He learned what to do if someone goes overboard.
“Give him your life jacket,” Declan said. So that's what he instinctively did that night on June 17. “I gave him my life jacket, told him to float on his back. And then we brought him back to shore.”
Yes, the boys were in the right place at the right time. But their parents credit their noble deeds to the bonds of friendship.
“We all worked together to be able to save him,” said Charlie, who stayed on shore to call 911.
Norton presented each student with a certificate at this week's school board meeting. Their parents already received a Glen Ellyn police patch and a challenge coin. Awarded in the military, the coins recognize an “exemplary act of heroism,” Norton said.
“If there are people out there watching who wonder whether an individual working with other individuals can make a difference, you just demonstrated the power of that kind of collective action,” Bruno told the students. “And we're very, very grateful for your efforts.”
Norton said they all could have future careers in law enforcement. Or as teachers, Bruno replied.
The way Charlie describes that summer night, it's not that he and his buddies are cut out to be first responders.
They're just “all great friends.”