A picture of the pond in Vernon's Polson Park.
Image Credit: Facebook/Teresa Deak
February 22, 2015 - 2:10 PM
VERNON – Mother and child will be fine after taking an unscheduled and unwanted swim in the pond in Vernon’s Polson Park Saturday afternoon.
The brakes released on the baby stroller and it rolled into the icy water around 2 p.m., says Vernon Fire Rescue captain Rob Cucheran. Mom and the baby’s siblings jumped right in after the stroller.
When firefighters arrived the infant was in the care of a nurse who happened to be in the park.
Cucheran says they wrapped the infant, the mom and the siblings in blankets and kept them warm in the fire engine until an ambulance arrived. The mother and baby were taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital for observation.
Cucheran says the call was the first of it’s kind for him.
“We’ve had people fall in the creek and stuff like that,” he says “I’ve never responded to the brakes coming off a stroller and it going into the pond with a baby on board.”
Even though it was sunny, he says the water was quite cold. Despite the chill, he thinks the baby and the rest of the family will be fine.
A bylaw officer was in the park when the accident happened and radioed the fire department, so crews were on the scene fairly quickly, Cucheran says.
“Luckily mom was able to jump in and pull the baby out right away."
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015