Central Park Good Samaritan Pulls Boy From Frozen Pond: Report

Upper East Side NY

16 February, 2021

3:06 PM

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CENTRAL PARK, NY — A 14-year-old Queens boy is safe on Tuesday after a quick-thinking Good Samaritan came to the teen's rescue after he fell through the ice on a Central Park pond on Monday, according to reports. Dan McFadden is being credited with extending an ice rescue ladder to the boy who fell through the ice around 2 p.m. on Monday near 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, according to CBS 2. The boy, who was not identified in the report, found himself in frigid water up to his shoulders after he fell through the ice, the station reported. The incident was captured on video by a bystander who happened to be recording video when he heard the boy start screaming after the ice cracked and gave way. McFadden saw the boy in the water and jumped into action by grabbing the wooden ladder, which was between six and seven feet long. "I gave him one end, he held on and I was able to pull him out," McFadden told CBS 2. The boy's mother said her son was taken to the hospital before he returned to his home in Astoria. She said that park officials should be more aware of people walking out onto surfaces that appear to be frozen. Park officials said told CBS 2 that although warning signs are posted around Central Park, park-goers should never consider risking walking out onto frozen ponds as more times than not, the ice is not strong enough to hold people. But a day after her son found himself in danger, the woman is grateful for McFadden's quick-thinking. "If that man didn't help my son go back up, my son wouldn't be here right now," the woman said, according to the report.