Boy pulled from Ogden River in extremely critical condition

OGDEN, Utah, May 9, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A boy was left fighting for his life Tuesday evening after his nearly lifeless body was pulled from the rushing waters of the Ogden River.

The call came at about 4 p.m. reporting that a child had fallen or jumped into the Ogden River, which was swollen and frigid from spring runoff. His shoes were found on the shore.

Firefighters, police officers and paramedics, 20 to 30 of them, stationed themselves at various spots on the river’s bank to search.

One firefighter was told by a little girl that she had seen the boy — who is believed to be about 10 years old — as the current carried him past a bridge. Searching downstream, maybe 60 feet, the firefighter saw something nearly submerged, caught under a low-hanging branch near the south shore.

“He had to get very close before he could even tell it was the boy,” Ogden Fire Department Chief Mike Mathieu said. “The boy had drowned. But the fact that we were able to find him gave him a chance at life.

“There’s a small window of time when we can make a difference,” Mathieu told Gephardt Daily, explaining that someone who’s not breathing can sometimes be resuscitated, or a stopped heart can be coaxed into beating.

“That’s the window we are always looking for,” Mathieu said.

The firefighter, helped by the father of the observant little girl, pulled the boy from the river, and the fireman and a paramedic performed CPR. The young victim was rushed to McKay-Dee Hospital in extremely critical condition.

Rumor from upstream was that the boy had fallen into the water chasing his dog. Mathieu said he could not confirm whether there was a dog, and frankly, the boy’s life was his concern. Mathieu said anyone whose dog goes into a river should let it go, since dogs usually have the skills to self-rescue.

The boy had traveled about 10 blocks in the rushing, rocky river, from about 1500 East to 500 East, Mathieu said. The water was traveling at 1,580 cubic feet per second, according to the USGS water website, and its average depth was 6.4 feet.

The water’s temperature was not listed, but Mathieu said the fact that it was extremely cold gives the victim another fighting chance to survive, referencing the fact that cold temperatures have been known to slow the deterioration of oxygen-deprived organs.

Mathieu said several hours after the rescue that he had no updates on the boy’s condition. He was grateful crews and medical experts at the hospital could give the victim a chance at survival, he said.

And Mathieu said he hoped the boy would recover, “God willing.” Mathieu added that he knew what some of his firefighters and other first responders would be doing Tuesday night.

“Many of them have children,” he said. “The first thing they want to do is call their kids. The second thing they want to do is hug their kids. And the third thing they want to do is talk to their children about how to stay out of these dangerous situations.”

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