A 9-year-old slipped into the water on a frozen lake that was beginning to thaw in Muncie while trying to retrieve a ball that had rolled with his friend. His friend managed to get out but the 9-year-old struggled to get out. A shuttle driver came to the rescue and saved his life. Watch the drama
Yesterday (Monday) around 17:20, local time, two children, around 9 years old, were playing ball in Muncie, New York. During the game, their ball rolled into a nearby lake that froze due to the weather. Because the ice was visible, the children believed the lake was frozen and ran into it to retrieve the ball. But it turns out that the ice melted faster than expected, and the children fell from the thin layer of ice into the frozen water. One boy managed to pull himself out, but his friend couldn’t and tried to struggle to get out.
Asher Vider, a bus driver of the Satmar yeshiva, was just passing the lake, towards the end of his route, when he saw one child leaving the lake and the other in distress. Vader told bystanders to call 911, and ran himself into the lake. He told the details of the case to the English-language website ‘The Informer’.
“The boy was about 20-30 meters from the beach,” Vider said. “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 a footing on the muddy bottom of the lake. “I tried to check the ice around me to see if I could jump on it, but everywhere I checked, it was falling apart,” Vader said. “I started making my way out. I was afraid the boy would fall out of my hands, so I told him to grab my jacket.”
During the rescue, volunteers from a rescue organization and a friends organization and fire brigade appeared on the scene. The volunteers jumped into the water using a ladder and ropes as means of pulling Vader and the boy to safety. The boy was hospitalized, but was conscious and fully alert. And how does the bus driver who became an instant hero feel after saving a life? “It’s a good feeling,” laughs Vader. “But a little cold.”