Police officers in Severna Park, Maryland, took quick action when a young person was in danger last week.
The officers rushed to aid a teenager who jumped into an icy creek to rescue his friend on December 26 at the Cattail Creek and Magothy River, WBAL-TV reported Thursday.
The first boy was able to swim back to shore and get to safety. However, his friend remained trapped and struggling in the water.
Sgt. Katherine Beall said she asked the young person who made it out where the other boy was and when he told her she ran toward the pier.
“I can see clothes on top of the ice, but I don’t see any water moving, I don’t hear anymore screams or shouts for help. As I go toward the pier, I say, ‘Where are you?’ I get a response, I look over the edge of the pier, and there was the other juvenile standing there, pinkish-red color, cold, shivering, begging for help,” Beall recalled.
She knew exactly what to do and tossed the boy a life jacket before grabbing a yellow rescue rope to haul him out of the water.
Meanwhile, Cpl. Scott Bowerman and Officer Chris Richardson ran down the pier to assist.
“Help me pull him up!” Beall shouted to them in body camera footage of the rescue the Anne Arundel County Police Department shared:
One of the officers appeared to remove his gun belt before getting down on his knees. Moments later, the officers grabbed hold of the boy and pulled him out of the water. He was soaking wet and appeared exhausted after such a harrowing experience.
“You’re okay! Roll over for me,” Beall told the young man. “That was a brave effort you did there.”
The boy was eventually placed in an ambulance, according to the department’s social media post.
He may have been in danger of hypothermia, a condition that occurs when a person is exposed to cold weather or is immersed in cold water, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department’s core services are improving the community, saving lives, and building community partnerships.