Coralville woman rescues young boy from pond

Leah Rohlf thought she and her two children and their friends were going to enjoy a nice morning at the library and park Tuesday.

They did for a while, but Rohlf's day also included saving a young boy who was face down in the pond in Coralville's S.T. Morrison Park.

“It was not on my to-do list for the day, that's for sure,” said Rohlf, 28, of Coralville.

The boy was OK, thanks to a fast-thinking and fast-moving Rohlf.

It all happened at about 11:30 a.m. After going to the Coralville Public Library with her children, 4-year-old Isabelle and Johnny, who's almost 2, and several other moms and their kids, the group went to the nearby park for a picnic.

They were at the playground area when Rohlf saw a boy she guessed to be about 2 years old down by the pool area, apparently by himself. She checked with some other moms and no one knew who the boy was, and when she looked back he was running toward the pond.

Rohlf kicked off her flip flops and raced after him toward the pond, which was several hundred feet away from where she was.

She lost sight of him over a small hill, and when she got to the top of it, she saw the boy face down in at least three feet of water kicking his legs, about four feet from shore. His head was bobbing up and down some, but by the time Rohlf got to him, he wasn't coming up for air.

Rohlf is not sure how long he was in the water. “It felt like my life slowed down by seconds at that point,” she said. “It was like a movie.”

It wasn't long enough to seriously harm the boy. Rohlf pulled him up and he was coughing and crying. First aid was not needed, and neither paramedics nor police were called.

Other adults had come down to the pond, and Rohlf said the boy's caretaker, who appeared to be in her 60s, came and said she hadn't been able to find the boy. And then they went their separate ways. Rohlf says she wishes she would have at least asked the boy's name.

Rohlf's friend Rachel Meyer watched everything along with several dozen more people at the crowded playground. She said she had her cell phone out ready to call 911 until she saw the boy move.

“I keep thinking, if Leah hadn't seen him, no one else would have seen him for quite a while,” said Meyer, 30, of Coralville. “And if she didn't have the instinct to go after him, then I think you would have been reporting a real different story.”

Coralville Police Chief Barry Bedford said his department had no information on the incident and couldn't confirm what happened. He said it's a good reminder that caretakers always need to have children in sight.

Rohlf stressed the park was crowded and it would have been easy for a little kid to slip away from his caretakers.

She said she's been having a tough time personally of late, and the incident helped reaffirm her faith.

“It was just confirmation to me that he (God) is in control, and he is good,” she said.