Suburban Rescue
- Next to a sinking orange Bears hat, a tiny hand popped through the icy waters of the Des Plaines river Tuesday afternoon.
Off-duty Evanston Police Officer Sean O’Brien didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the hand and plucked a 7-year-old boy from the water, saving his life.
Moments earlier, O’Brien, 26, had spotted the boy running around the intersection of River Road and Miner Street in Des Plaines. He got out of his car and tried to cajole the boy to safety. No parents were in sight, and dozens of other motorists had passed by without doing anything, O’Brien said.
“He picked up a chunk of snow the size of a football and took off running,” said O’Brien, who chased the boy. The boy scurried down to the concrete embankment of the Des Plaines River, hurled the chunk of snow in the water and stood there mesmerized for a moment. Then he jumped in after it, O’Brien said.
O’Brien, trailing the boy by a few feet, could see the boy’s orange Bears cap beneath the river’s surface, and he jumped in the water, which came up to his waist.
Tuesday's high was about 31 and the water had to be damn cold. Quick thinking and an unwillingness to just be another passerby means a child went home tonight instead of the morgue. Well done Officer O'Brien.
Plus, the copper was pictured wearing a Blackhawks sweater, so he's alright in our book.
Plus, the copper was pictured wearing a Blackhawks sweater, so he's alright in our book.
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
53 Comments:
Hooray for SEAN O'BRIEN.....a true HERO....Thank God and may that little boy realize the Officer's value and let him always be careful. Such a fortunate meeting. But soooo Cold. Brrr!!! Take the day off work Officer O'Brien and go to a sauna.
Goosebumps. Honestly, Officer O'Brien, from the sounds of it, you knew where it was all headed from the get go aka not good...and you trusted your instincts and ended up saving a life...God bless you, you are a true hero! The images described will never leave me...you are an angel.
Great job officer!
Wonderful!!
That's the second life saved by O'Brien. In 09 he pulled another copper out of a burning, overturned car.
Nice job, Office!!!
Nice work, officer O'Brien.
Now be glad you're not CPD, because out of thin air there'd be a dozen ghetto savages "swearin' fo God" to the media how you chased that poor boy to the rivers edge and pushed him into the frigid water.
And then AlderAsshole Howard Brookins, Esq. would be representing the family in the civil suit against you.
...and this is the difference between a decent person and a brainless, uptalking corporate robot? whose moral circuit breaker has been pulled?
www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57572300/911-call-reveals-nurse-refused-to-give-dying-woman-cpr/
Another story today -- guy on a laundry route out in Lincolnshire saw a customer with symptoms indicating a stroke and called 911. They got her to the hospital and she'll be OK. No one would have known at all except police called the guy's boss at the laundry company and told him what his driver had done.
You don't have to be the "Chicago Police" to be "the" police! Good for you office. There are plenty of bad guys everywhere. Some people forget that we are on the same side. You showed balls of steel by putting yourself in the face of danger and prevailing by saving a child. You are "the police" in my book!
Read this in the trib, and it didn't sound quite right. Was the seven year old learning impaired, or what? Does the story make sense? Not trying to be an asshole, and I hope I'm wrong. There's probably more to the story that the goof reporter left out. Que the enraged in 3.....2....1.....
Awesome job!!!!! Can't say enough about this officer. Wondering, however, why the boy would jump into the river. does he suffer from some sort of mental illness? Or maybe a special needs kid? but mostly wondering wtf were the parents.
great joe Sean,..Go Irish!!!!!
Great job by the officer, of that there is no question!
Just would like to mention -- this brings to my mind many experiences I have had in recent years. I encounter a lot of kids today who seem to have problems that you did not see so much years ago.
* Kids with seemingly little connection to the physical world, no perception of danger or boundaries
* Young kids with extreme aggressive, challenging behavior, shouting at adults
* Kids who come out with a mix of age-inappropriate fantasy stuff, as though from a much younger child, jarringly mixed in with very adult remarks.
Autism, Asperger's, ADHD, might be some of the explanations, but some of it may come from being raised up by parents whose own grasp of reality is problematic.
...and for what it's worth, the kids I'm specifically thinking of here were all white, in more affluent white residential areas of city and suburbs. Of course, there are similar problems all over.
Just much more of it today, it seems. I think there are a whole lot of factors working, environmental, family, "entertainment industry," behavior of other kids at school, etc. and none of them good.
Hmmm.
That's a hell of a job. I'm sure the boys family will be eternally grateful.
Ot: that beedy eyed fuck of a governor proposed a 279 million cut to education and... Of course he took his best shot and blamed it on pension reform... What a jag off lame duck fucker.
Nice going office,you deserve to be recognized but this is IL. you know.So You have CPD's and I'm sure many more dept.'s "atta boy" Good luck you did yourself and your Dept. well.
Great job, but where were the parent(s)
Nice job O'Brien. Proud to be your co-worker.
Nice story amd touching.There is hope and a Heaven.Amen
Nice job!!!!
hopefully the hawks give you a couple of seats on the glass gratis for your heroism--- " cold steel on ice "....
Way to go!
Police officers are angels that just happen to wear badges
great job!! glad everyone is safe!
GREAT JOB!!!!! You saved that little boys life!!!! God Bless you!!
nice work office
"Now be glad you're not CPD, because out of thin air there'd be a dozen ghetto savages "swearin' fo God" to the media how you chased that poor boy to the rivers edge and pushed him into the frigid water. "
And you'd get chewed out because you didn't get a contact card on the kid.
But the important thin is WELL DONE OFFICER!!!!
Great job Officer O'Brien. The water had to be frigid. Good thing that you spotted this boy in that area. By the way, loved the Irish Blackhawk jersey.
Sir, kick ass job for saving this boys life. I wonder how many civilians would have done the same. To you sir, I tip my hat.
Kudos to Officer O'Brien, but this kid must be dumb as a post along with the idiot parent(s).
It is the government's job to raise the children, not the parent(s).
Put in a Pink Card for O.T. !
Good Job Office! I'm sure Billy Kushner will recognize your efforts. Saving a kid, don't get no better than that.
Ole Time Area One Det.
nice job officer. very nice.
GREAT job officer that little guy will never know how lucky he was to have yoou as his guardian angel.
Nice work,right place,right time,now give him an award and a promised position,he's golden!
We all have it in us, just right time and place. Great Job to Officer OBrien, you make us all proud. You are a real life hero, like many of us.
God bless you Sean
Great job officer, God bless you!
"Wondering, however, why the boy would jump into the river. does he suffer from some sort of mental illness? Or maybe a special needs kid? but mostly wondering wtf were the parents."
3/06/2013 01:13:00 AM
Yes, those were exactly my thoughts when I commented 3/06/2013 01:30:00 AM.
Reminded me of kids playing right alongside a double-stack train, thing is roaring, going 40-50 MPH, air blast and suction, 250,000 pounds per car with 36" steel wheels, who knows if something is loose, dangling, going to come unglued -- s__t happens, that is how heavy steel container doors and metal banding and other stuff laying by the tracks got there -- and the kids are grabbing at the steps and ladders, reaching into the blur.
If your sleeve gets caught...like I said, they don't seem to be in touch with what's around them. It must carry over when the parents themselves are wandering across busy streets txt msging, nothing really applies to me...
I know that spot up there in Des Plaines, I can just see that little hand sticking up out of the water, and someone got there to grab it -- way to go.
C-O-L-D.
>brr<
I can see throwing stuff in for fun, or making like Huck Finn on a floating wood pallet in the summer, getting in trouble messing around that way, but when it's this COLD? Humans have a wired-in basic aversion to that -- or they used to. It does make you wonder.
Anyway, bring that man a Cafe Bustelo with a shot in it. We salute you, sir. Good deal.
Nice job EPD!
I don't know where the parents were, but based on experience I can tell you kids are sneaky.
When my sister went into labor my mom, with ZERO warning, dropped my twin three year old nephews off with me.
It was maybe 8-9 am and I was dead tired after working a long night. I put the kids in the living room with the TV on Channel 11 and locked the front and back door including using the chains. I fell asleep on the couch and the young future cat burglars proceeded to drag a chair from the kitchen, climb on top of it, release the chain and sneak out to play with the neighbors dog which they spied three doors down from the window.
Neighbor starts talking to the kids and asks where there mommy is. "In the hospital" they answer. Where do you live the neighbor asks and finally the neighbor figures out they're from a parish miles away. Cops are called and finally the kids blurt out we're staying with our uncle who's a cop too. Another neighbor knows who I am and directs the cops to my door.
You can imagine the rest of the conversation.
I then put the refrigerator up against my back door, and blockaded the front door with some boxes I hoped were too heavy for them to maneuver.
That evening they had a new sister and a story which their grandmother still uses against me.
Good for him! An amazing job!
an amazing story and an even better job by the officer. great job officer.
Sign that hero up to work in the Marine Unit. This guy has what it takes to work in Unit 059.
Great job office
I'm tearfully glad this child did not win the Darwin Award.
Grandma was watching the baby. Too many grandparents raising a second set of children and it many cases, they are not physically or mentally up to it.
Anonymous said...
Sign that hero up to work in the Marine Unit. This guy has what it takes to work in Unit 059.
3/06/2013 05:12:00 PM
HAHAHA...that's funny as hell! The first thing they'd say to him during the interview is "Great job, Officer O'Brien. Now more importantly, who's your sponsor?"
I would assume the kid has some kind of developmental issue.
Without knowing more, I wouldn't judge the parents. Some kids are escape artists. I learned that the hard way with my second. It took a lot of vigilance to get him through his early years in one piece. It had nothing to do with our grasp on reality, video games or whatever. It's just how he was wired.
Sean O"brien did a great job! I have called his chief to thank him and praise the officer, and we will be awarding Officer O'Brien a Lifesaving Award in the very near future.
Bill Kushner
Good on ya for knowing that isn't a jersey, but is, in fact, a sweater!
And, tonight, another rescue. This time in Tinley Park. Police are the right kind of crazy, going into freezing water to save kids.
A lot of ball busting at work after being in the limelight but youre a Hero bro. dont forget it.
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