Police in Aurora, Illinois, rescued a nine-year-old boy who fell through the ice on a retention pond at an apartment complex on November 23.
When a 911 call came in about a drowning, Officer Andrew Soderlund and his partner immediately responded to the scene, WBBM reported Monday.
Once they arrived, the officers ran straight to the pond where the boy fell in, trying to get his football. They soon learned a woman who attempted to rescue him was also trapped.
Once he tied the rope around his waist, Soderlund jumped into the freezing water and realized it was also deep.
“That adrenaline dump that goes on in a situation like that, I don’t remember the cold at all,” the officer recalled. “I originally started walking out. I was like, ‘Wow, this isn’t bad. I can stand up.’ And then, it just dropped. It felt like there was no bottom.”
The body cam video shows officers working to pull those in the water to safety with the ropes.
According to the Marine Corps Community Services website, people who fall into cold water should swim, paddle, move around, try to remain calm, avoid panicking, and keep their head above water.
The police department said the child and two officers were taken to a hospital after the incident and the woman was treated at the scene.
“Everybody was released from the hospital in stable condition,” the agency noted.
The boy got a big surprise on Thanksgiving Day when the officers presented him with another football.
Meanwhile, social media users applauded the responding officers, one person writing, “Amazing job! They acted without hesitation and knew exactly what to do to get the job done.
“Amazing work! Brave officers,” another said.