Brothers tell of harrowing event; rescue

Gina Hanley thought that last Friday afternoon was just the end of a normal week for her family and her, but that was before she got the call that changed her eased mind to terrified.

Hanley had been trying to get ahold of her husband and when she finally did, she was told that her two sons were being driven to Sidney Regional Medical Center.

“When I finally talked to him he told me the boys were in the ambulance on their way to the hospital and that Austin had almost drowned. I was in shock,” Hanley said.

On Friday, Jan. 4 her sons Austin, 5, and Riley, 9, fell through the ice into the pond at Legion Park.

The boys had been chasing each other and playing with their 8-month-old Jack Russell Terrier, Buddy, around areas of the park when the event occurred, according to Hanley.

The mother said that Austin fell through the ice on the pond while trying to catch Buddy, who was running away. Riley fell in after while trying to save his brother by pulling him out with a sled another boy on scene had given him for the effort.

The boys said the icy water felt cold enough to petrify a person, literally.

“I couldn’t move my arms or anything at all,” Austin said.

“When he got out he didn’t move an inch. He could only move his mouth and his head, nothing else,” Riley said.

Riley said the boys’ rescuers at first seemed to be scolding him from a distance for being so close to the water, but that was before they realized his brother was trapped in the pond.

“The guy honked his horn and there was a kid on the dock telling them to come over here because he didn’t see my brother in the water. He kept going down under the water,” Riley said. “But when they saw my brother they all came rushing to save him.”

Riley said that the crew of city workers surrounded the two of them; doing everything they could to get them out of the icy depths as soon as possible.

The city employees who took part in the rescure were Tom VonSeggern, James Harmon, Harlind Shields, Rob Roderick and Steven Waller.

“Tom is the one who saved me and put me in the ambulance,” Austin said. “He had to go in the ambulance too. He got hurt too because of the water.” Austin said he doesn’t remember all of the time he spent in the water but he remembers the saving grab of VonSeggern pulling him from the water.

“Tom was in there probably close to as long as Austin had been,” Riley said.

VonSeggern said that Riley was a big help in saving his brother’s life.

“Riley, the older brother, set example for us to follow,” VonSeggern said. “He wouldn’t leave him. Riley tried to rescue his brother by pulling him out by a sled, which unfortunately wasn’t working.”

VonSeggern said that Riley’s motivation spurred the team of city workers into action.

It is not clear how long Austin was in the water for, Hanley said, but when he was retrieved from the pond he had a mild case of hypothermia.

“When he got out of the water he was all grey,” Riley said. “They had to rush us to the hospital. The ambulance people were quicker than heck to get him into a warm bed because he was still turning grey.”

Every person involved in the incident is now fine, including the dog that the family had gotten just a week before Christmas.

Hanley said that a man had caught their beloved dog Buddy, and returned him to the family.

“The dog never even went into the water,” Hanley said.

“Yeah, the dog was smart,” Austin added.

“I’m so thankful that they drove by when they did. You don’t know how many people might have driven right by and not stopped,” Hanley said.

Hanley said that words couldn’t describe how grateful she of the rescuers and that her sons are okay.

“I still sit here and wonder how it didn’t turn a different direction,” she said. “I’m just thankful that there are people like that out there.”