Girl, 2, rescued from Cranes Pond after sledding onto frozen surface

Two-year-old Lydia Bly was rescued by the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department from the icy surface of Cranes Pond after sliding onto the ice on her innertube while sledding on Thursday, Jan. 17. She was uninjured.

As children sledded down a hill at Cranes Pond Park at 408 N. Broadway Street in Mt. Pleasant, most of them successfully stopped at the bottom of the hill, avoiding the pond that was only partially frozen over. That is, until two-year-old Lydia took a turn, avoiding the hands that tried to grasp her before she skidded out onto the ice.

Someone at the scene dialed 9-1-1, and the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department and police department arrived at the scene. Within 10 minutes, Lydia was safely in her mother's arms.

'Not what we thought would happen today,” Amy Bly, Lydia's mother said, while holding her daughter closely. 'We were sledding here and no one went that far. The boys at the bottom tried to grab her.”

Amy said she tried to step on the ice to get to her daughter but it wasn't frozen enough to hold her weight.

The fire department arrived prepared with a water and ice rescue tool (WiRT) and backup rescue gear in case someone had to get in the water to reach Lydia.

The fire department has had the WiRT for two years and they practice with it every year. Lydia was the first person they actually had to rescue with it, firefighter Will Bensmiller said.

'It's totally designed for this type of rescue,” said Chief Drew Schumacher, with the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department. 'This is a proven fact that this works.”

Schumacher said there haven't been enough cold temperatures recently for the ice to freeze enough to hold weight.

'Be aware of your surroundings,” Schumacher said.

Coleman Mowery, a seventh-grader at Mt. Pleasant Middle School, watched the whole thing happen.

'I knew she was going pretty fast, but I didn't know she was going that fast,” Mowery said. 'It's scary, really, really scary.”