Ice rescue in North Barrington felt like it was 'meant to be'
All things considered, mid-January seems like decades ago, recollections faded and details blurred amid our new lives and times.
But for North Barrington resident Vicki Matthews and veteran ADT technician Mike Heimbuch, the events that quickly unfolded on a cold January day at Honey Lake are unforgettable.
On what had been a quiet afternoon, the pair reacted quickly and creatively to save a man who had fallen through the ice.
What would have happened if Heimbuch had been on schedule? What if a neighbor's boat had been tied up? Why was a long length of rope sitting on a table in midwinter?
They wonder, too. But sometimes things appear meant to be.
"The point is that it was an honor to be there and make a difference and have a happy ending," said Matthews, a naturopathic physician.
Matthews was working in her home office, which looks onto the lake, when she heard a cry and thought maybe something had fallen.
"It sounded like, 'Help' but it was pretty muffled," Matthews said. "I thought it might have been Mike in the basement."
Heimbuch, an Elgin resident and 31-veteran of the company, was installing an addition to the security system when Matthews asked if he was OK.
"I didn't know what she was talking about," he said.
They ran onto the deck and saw a man who had fallen through the ice on the frozen lake about 40 feet from shore. The man had been ice skating and apparently hit a soft patch.
Matthews called 911 and was told someone already had called and help was en route. Coatless, she and Heimbuch sprinted to the shore.
They found a bunch of kayaks tied up and an aluminum row boat upside down frozen to the sand.
"It took every bit of strength I had to pry it free," said Heimbuch. "Unbelievably, there's a rope sitting 15 feet away on a table."
The rope was tied to one end with the intent of shoving the flat end of the boat to the man.
"He was yelling, 'Hurry, hurry. Please hurry,' " Matthews recalled. "We said, 'Hold on. We'll get this out there and you try to grab it.'"
Heimbuch said he kept falling through the ice near shore and it took four or five tries to 'skip' the boat across the ice to the man.
"It was like an angel's hands made sure that boat got out there," Matthews said.
"When I was able to see his shoulders, I started pulling him," Heimbuch said.
They got him to shore just as paramedics arrived.
"A couple more minutes and he might not have made it," Matthews said she was told.
Both wondered "What if?"
"I got hung up on my first job (that day)," Heimbuch said. "Otherwise I would have been there and gone before this happened."
"Afterward it hit us. 'Wow,'" Matthews added. "We were meant to be there."
In February, the pair were honored at a North Barrington village board meeting and in March, ADT presented both with hero awards at a ceremony in Oak Brook.
• Do you know any Suburban Heroes? Share your story at heroes@dailyherald.com.