Patrick J. LaRose saved a boy from drowning, Shelby Township, Michigan, November 28, 2013. When an 11-year-old boy walked onto ice covering Crystal Lake, which was in the apartment complex where he lived, the ice gave way beneath him. Shouting for help, he struggled to climb from the open water. The water was frigid, and the air temperature was in the low 20s. In an apartment overlooking the lake, LaRose, 38, heard the boy. He ran from the building to a point on the bank closest the boy, taking with him a lawn rake from one of the units. LaRose then stepped onto the ice and walked to a point just short of the boy, who was about 40 feet out. As LaRose extended one end of the rake to the boy and told him to grasp it, the ice gave way beneath him, and he too fell into the water, which was beyond his depth. Telling the boy to hold to him, LaRose started to break a path through the ice toward the opposite bank, 60 feet away, where others were assembling with a line. They threw the line toward LaRose, but it initially fell short. LaRose continued toward the bank with the boy, others then removing him from the water as LaRose left the lake. Both the boy and LaRose were treated by emergency medical personnel at the scene, LaRose sustaining cuts and scrapes to his hands. The boy was hospitalized overnight for being exposed to the cold water.
86224 – 9739
86224-9739