A 9-year-old ultra-Orthodox boy from the city of Monsey is lucky to be alive, after yesterday (Monday), after 5:00 PM, he fell through the ice into a local lake.
The boy was playing with a friend of his age near the frozen surface of Lake Susan, located in the heart of a residential area in Monsey. AfterTheir ball fell into the lake, they were safe that the ice is frozen enough and they ran after the ball. However, since now The weather with temperatures above average for the season, the ice on the lake was not solid enough – and it cracked and broke.
One of them plunged into the icy waters of the lake, while the other managed to escape and reach safety Back to the beach, a distance of about 30 meters.
A passerby who saw the boy struggling to get out of the water threw the ball into the water, hoping that the boy would catch it and be able to float.
Asher Vider, a Satmar Yeshiva bus driver who was passing by, stopped his bus on the side of the road – and jumped into the lake to help save the trembling child.
Vider told the website that informs in English about the moments of the drama: “The boy was about 15-30 meters from the beach. As I got closer, I noticed that the ice was getting thinner. Finally I just dove into the water.”
Vader grabbed the boy, but struggled to find his footing on the muddy bottom of the lake. “I tried to check the ice around me, if I could jump on it, but everywhere I checked, it was breaking up. I started to make my way out. I was afraid that the child would fall out of my hands, so I told him to hold onto my jacket.”
In the meantime, volunteers from the organization ‘Hetsela’ and ‘Friends’ and fire brigades quickly arrived at the scene. They jumped into the water, using a ladder and ropes, to pull Vader and the boy to safety.
The boy was pulled safely from the water and taken by lifeguards to Westchester Medical Center.
And how does the bus driver who became a hero feel after saving a life?
“It’s a good feeling,” laughs Vader. “But it’s a little cold.”
‘Friends’ coordinator Yossi Margaretan estimated that the organization’s first volunteer arrived at the lake within 60 to 90 seconds. “He grabbed his ladder and spread it on the ice, walking on the steps so as not to put so much pressure on the ice,” Margareten told VIN News. “Already then, the ice cracked and it eventually reached the water, which was between four and five meters high.”
“It’s a good feeling to save a child,” said Margarten, who still remembered playing on the ice of Lake Susan in colder winters as a child. “Mothers should tell their children that the lake is not a place to play, because this winter it just wasn’t cold enough to be safe to go out on the ice.”