Aurora mother thanks officers for their water rescue of son, caught on video

An Aurora woman was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with her 9-year-old son Thursday thanks to two police officers who kept him from drowning.

An Aurora woman was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with her 9-year-old son Thursday thanks to two police officers who kept him from drowning.

The boy, who was trying to retrieve his football, fell through ice on a retention pond just before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and had to be pulled out by police.

A woman who went in after the boy also had to be rescued, according to an Aurora Police Department news release.

“I thought my son was not going to be able to be here to see Thanksgiving,” the mother said in a video shared by Aurora police, who did not identify her. “I want to thank all the people who rescued him.”

https://www.facebook.com/AuroraILPolice/videos/1578815749244362/

Multiple officers deployed water rescue kits, and two officers swam out into the pond to help the boy and the woman.

Two Aurora police officers used water rescue kits and went into the water to help the woman and boy.

“I knew that they weren’t making any progress making it back. ... They definitely needed some help,” said Aurora police officer Andrew Soderlund, one of the two who went in to rescue the woman and boy from the pond.

The department’s water rescue kits includes a rope that ties to an officer’s belt and aids in pulling people back to shore. Soderlund said the two were about 15 to 20 feet away from the shore.

The boy, also not identified, was taken to the hospital and later released once his condition stabilized. The woman was treated at the scene, police said.

Soderlund and another officer who swam out to rescue the boy sustained minor injuries. Both were treated and released from a hospital.

Aurora police also gave the boy a new football.