An adolescent boy was rescued Monday afternoon from the Outlet Stream in Vassalboro after falling through the ice and getting stuck in the mud below.
Lanny Dellinger, 12, of Winslow was rescued and taken to a MaineGeneral Thayer Center for Health with hypothermia due to being stuck in the water. Gabriel Shorey, 13, of Vassalboro also fell through the ice but managed to get out of the water.
Vassalboro Fire Chief Walker Thompson said the department responded to a call at 1 p.m. about two teenage boys falling through the ice. By the time first responders arrived, Shorey had already got out of the water and ran home, but the Dellinger had gotten stuck in the mud. After freeing himself, he was hanging onto a piece of ice to keep his head above water, Thompson said.
“We are very thankful for the outcome, and I believe that he is going to be OK,” Thompson said. “Overall, I’m just very thankful with how all these agencies came together to get him out because had we not had the response that we did, the outcome certainly would’ve been different.”
Thompson called for LifeFlight, and the South China Fire Department set up a landing zone at the Vassalboro Town Office, but it ended up not being needed. Waterville Fire Department, Delta Ambulance, China Rescue, the Vassalboro Police Department, Vassalboro First Responders, Maine State Police and the Maine Warden Service’s dive team assisted on the call.
Shorey and his father, Brian, utilized a canoe to help Dellinger out of the water. According to a release sent later by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Dellinger was discharged from the hospital Monday night.
Thompson said first responders walked 25-30 feet before falling through the ice with wetsuits. Dellinger was stuck about 50 yards from the shoreline on the west side of the stream.
“Obviously they were OK with the wetsuit, but that just shows the ice is not safe by any means,” Thompson said.
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