Police officer rescues boy from icy Yakima pond
YAKIMA, Wash. -- It seemed like a typical day at the Kiwanis park for four teenage boys. From the onset, this pond appeared frozen. But as the group of boys started playing on the ice, something went horribly wrong. The ice suddenly gave way.
"I thought how sad life can be. One moment you could be hanging out with your friends,” said Marcos Galindo. “The next moment you could be drowning."
Marcos Galindo lives right near the park. He said he was worried for the boys safety when he heard the boys fell into the water. Three of the boys were able to swim to safety, but the forth was trapped under the ice for several minutes. By the time Sergeant Tim Bardwell showed up, the situation was dire.
"Time is very critical at that point to get him out of the water and start resuscitation in order to hopefully save his life," said Sergeant Tim.
It's a situation Sergeant Bardwell hasn't come across in his experience of 25 years. But in that moment, he knew he had to swim out to save a life. He didn't think twice about wading into the freezing water to save the boy. By the time Sergeant Bardwell dragged the boy to safety, the boy had stopped breathing. Rescuers then performed CPR and brought the boy back to life.
"My gut reaction was he was face down in the middle of the pond and we had to get him out as quickly as we possibly could," said Sergeant Tim.
All this happened even with signs warning against people playing on the ice. To prevent a similar situation, Marcos plans to make more signs warning people of the unseen danger.
"We're making some signs that would say please do not walk on ice and we'll be putting it up there right now and we'll be putting them up next winter," said Marcos.
And now with the weather warming up around the pond, parents said they will watch their kids more closely.
"I thought how sad life can be. One moment you could be hanging out with your friends,” said Marcos Galindo. “The next moment you could be drowning."
Marcos Galindo lives right near the park. He said he was worried for the boys safety when he heard the boys fell into the water. Three of the boys were able to swim to safety, but the forth was trapped under the ice for several minutes. By the time Sergeant Tim Bardwell showed up, the situation was dire.
"Time is very critical at that point to get him out of the water and start resuscitation in order to hopefully save his life," said Sergeant Tim.
It's a situation Sergeant Bardwell hasn't come across in his experience of 25 years. But in that moment, he knew he had to swim out to save a life. He didn't think twice about wading into the freezing water to save the boy. By the time Sergeant Bardwell dragged the boy to safety, the boy had stopped breathing. Rescuers then performed CPR and brought the boy back to life.
"My gut reaction was he was face down in the middle of the pond and we had to get him out as quickly as we possibly could," said Sergeant Tim.
All this happened even with signs warning against people playing on the ice. To prevent a similar situation, Marcos plans to make more signs warning people of the unseen danger.
"We're making some signs that would say please do not walk on ice and we'll be putting it up there right now and we'll be putting them up next winter," said Marcos.
And now with the weather warming up around the pond, parents said they will watch their kids more closely.
No teamwork huh Kristi? Were you even there? Oh, thats right you said you were. So why didnt you jump in to save the boy then? Let me guess, you werent there at the beginning. So then you didnt see the other officers attempt to reach the boy, ending with all the officers forming a chain so that Tim could reach them. And it definitely wasnt a team effort when the the officers got the boy breathing again with cpr, that must have all been Tim too huh? Let me tell you a little bit about ice water rescue. It may look easy to you, but once you hit that water, your body stops functioning normally. The other officers did in fact try and reach the boy, but were unsuccessful. How do I know?  I have only been a firefighter for 15 years in which I am certified in ice/water rescue.
That boy should have been out of the water MUCH sooner than he was...Thank-you Tim!
Like I said there was NO teamwork! When they couldn't reach him why didn't they dive in to get him? Tim was the ONLY one willing to go above and beyond....I WAS THERE MY FRIEND! How about you???
No "I" in TEAMWORK! Jus sayin.......
Hey Ben...I would mention that the other officers were only willing to go in the water to their WAIST...if Tim Bardwell would not have been there that boy would be gone for sure! It took the THIRD officer to get there before someone was willing to do something "heroic"!
Hey KIMA, no doubt that Sergeant Bardwell is a hero, but if you are going to tell the story, tell the whole story. Officer Gary Garza was second on scene and was the first to enter the water. Both him, and 2-3 other officers formed a human chain using a coat and a K-9 leash with Officer Bardwell at the end of the chain leading him to ultimately reach the boy. Once the boy was brought back to shore, Officer Garza and Officer Cyr perfomed CPR on the boy and got him breathing again. Officer Bardwell is a hero for sure, but so is Officer Garza and Officer Cyr. You didnt mention them at all, just that rescuers performed CPR. I just want you to know that those "rescuers" you mentioned, did a little more then your article states. All 3 should be hailed as hero's because thats exactly what they are! Way to go YPD. God be with the victim and his family as well as the other 3 boys who also fell into the pond.