Joel Arnier and a friend were fishing near McHenry when a woman pulled the floating body of her 1-year-old daughter from the waters of the Fox River.Arnier, 53, a firefighter-paramedic for the Addison Fire Department, and his fishing buddy saw the woman and beached their boat.
Arnier began mouth-to-mouth and gently pressed on the infant’s chest to get the river water out of her lungs.
“After a few moments she coughed,” Arnier said, and “after a couple minutes of breathing for her, she began breathing on her own.
The Nunda Rural Fire Protection District took the girl to Centega Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry.
Neither the sheriff’s office nor Arnier knew the child’s condition, but Arnier said that by the time she was taken away by paramedics “she was breathing on her own and ... was responsive.”
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said the woman briefly went upstairs when her three children were downstairs in their home.
When she returned, the children weren’t there. The mother found two children near the river and the 1-year-old in the water. The mother pulled the child from the water.
The sheriff’s office said Wednesday it did not anticipate any charges would be filed.
Arnier said he had planned to stop fishing about noon but “decided to get a little more time in,” which is why they were around at 1 p.m. when the woman ran into the water after her baby.
“I’m just glad I was able to be there for the little girl,” Arnier said.