KIDS ON THE ROCKS

ELYRIA FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE

3 KIDS IN CASCADE PARK

TMC NEWS PHOTOS/ BRIAN WOODS

Elyria – Three kids playing in Cascade Park in Elyria Wednesday afternoon got themselves stuck on a rock – screaming for help.

The boys climbed up on one rock and then each jumped to a rock just below. Their intention, said Assistant Chief Ron Brlas of the Elyria Fire Department, was to then jump from the lower rock onto a log in the river and then make their way back to shore. “When they got onto the lower rock however, they realized that the distance down to the log was further then they first thought – about 12 feet or so.”

With that the kids, ages ranging from 12 to 13 Brlas said, began to get worried about how they would get back to shore. So the next obvious step, and the smartest according to Brlas, was to sit tight and scream for help as loud as they could. “That was the smartest thing they could do in that situation. Once they realized they were in trouble they started calling for help rather than trying to get off the rock themselves – that would have only made a bad situation much worse.”

When Firefighters arrived Brlas said they knew exactly what had to be done because this type of situation is not uncommon for theses rocks. “We have been to this area of the park before to rescue people in the past. As a matter of fact, about 7 years ago kids were playing on these rocks and one young man tried to jump from one rock to the other – hit his chest and went down into the black river. He ended up drowning.” Brlas remembers that day vividly as he was part of the team that searched for the boy and he was the one who found his body in the water.

In this situation, Firefighters climbed up to the higher rock and extended a ladder down to the lower rock where the three boys were stranded. A Firefighter made his way down to the rock with the boys. One by one the Firefighter suited up each boy with a helmet and a floatation device (lifejacket) and sent him up the ladder to other Firemen.

The boys were then escorted back to the shore where their parents were waiting. “They might have wanted to stay on the rock a little longer – the parents were very upset with them and had told me that they have warned them in the past about playing on these rocks. But as upset as they were with the boys they were also very relieved that they were down and all doing ok.”

LifeCare Paramedics examined the three boys but with only minor scrapes the parents refused any treatment or transport for the children.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos by: BRIAN WOODS