Monsey Boy Rescued After Chasing Ball Into Not-So-Frozen Lake
by Reuvain Borchardt – Hamodia
A young boy was rescued by a bus driver and first responders after chasing a ball into a Monsey lake he thought was frozen.
The incident occurred around 5:20 p.m. at Lake Suzanne. Two boys, around 9 years old, were playing, when their ball fell into their lake. After a freezing weekend, and with ice visible, the boys believed the lake was frozen and ran after the ball. But on this Monday evening, with temperatures in the 40’s, the ice quickly gave way, and the boys fell into the frigid water.
One boy immediately jumped out, but the other began struggling.
Usher Wieder, a bus driver for Satmar yeshiva, was just passing the lake, nearing the end of his route when he saw the one boy leaving the lake and the other in distress. Wieder told bystanders to call Hatzolah, and ran into the lake, he told Hamodia in an interview Monday evening.
“The boy was about 50 or 100 feet from shore,” Wieder said. “As I got closer, I noticed that the ice was getting thinner. Finally I just plunged into the water.”
Wieder grabbed onto the child, but was struggling to find his own footing in the muddy lake floor. “I tried to test the ice around me if I could hop onto it, but wherever I tested, it was breaking apart,” Wieder recalled. “I started making my way out. I was afraid the kid would fall out of my hands, so I told him to grab onto the ice through his jacket.”
By that time, and Hatzalah, Chaveirim and the Fire Department responded.
Chaveirim and Hatzalah members jumped into the water, using a ladder and ropes as devices to pull Wieder the child to safety.
The child was hospitalized, but is conscious and fully alert.
And how does it feel for the bus driver who has become an instant hero after saving a life?
“It’s a good feeling,” Wieder laughs. “But a little cold.”
