With assist from good Samaritans, crew pulls father, son from Wisconsin river
When fire department crews got to the Menomonee River, they found a human chain of good Samaritans.
When fire department crews got to the Menomonee River, they found a human chain of good Samaritans.
When fire department crews got to the Menomonee River, they found a human chain of good Samaritans.
The help fire crews from Menomonee Falls Fire Department in Wisconsin found at a river rescue they were called to Monday may have provided enough time to avoid a tragic outcome.
Donovan Boyle was one of several people at the Menomonee River in the Milwaukee area when an unexpected noise caught their attention.
"We come around here and we hear, like, cries for help," Boyle said.
Those cries were coming from a father and son who were stuck in the river and holding on to anything as best they could.
"The first thing in my mind was, 'How can I get this person out of the water?'" Boyle said.
Fellow passersby saw the same emergency and started to form a human chain to try to pull the two people from the rushing water.
Just as first responders arrived and began to execute a rescue plan, the emergency took a sudden and life-threatening turn.
"We hear more cries, saying, 'Oh, he let go.' That's when you see him coming down the river," Boyle said of the father. "We actually see him bounce up, gasp for air, and he goes back down."
At that point, Boyle thought the worst as he and others ran down the adjacent pathway downriver.
By the time he got there, crews had successfully grabbed the father and pulled him out of the water. They also saved his son.
Chief Joe Pulvermacher said initial reports indicated the family's dog got away and into the water, which is what led to the water rescue.
Fortunately, the dog was found, the chief told sister station WISN on Tuesday. It had made its way back to the owner's pickup truck that was still in a parking lot since the father and son had been taken to the hospital.
Still, the chief stressed a reminder of the power of water and how it can be unforgiving.
"Not only the speed of the water, but the temperature of the water," he said. "The closer you get, the more dangerous it is. People have a tendency of underestimating the amount of strength that is required to get out of these currents."
