CATSKILL – Two boys from Catskill, ages 14 and 15, were rescued last Friday evening when they became stranded in the middle of Catskill Creek while clinging to a rock ledge at the edge of a 15-foot waterfalls.
State Police from the Catskill barracks, Leeds firefighters and Greene County paramedics deployed a lifeline across the water near the boys. The 14-year-old grabbed the line and was guided to the shoreline uninjured.
The 15-year-old attempted to follow, but lost his grip on the line and was swept over the falls into a pool of water below becoming completely submerged. As he was being carried downstream, a secondary lifeline was deployed, which the youth grabbed, but as rescuers were pulling him toward the shore, he lost his grip again. A medic entered the water in a shallower spot downstream and secured the teen until a third line was deployed and used to successfully extract the first responder and the boy from the water.
The boy was transported to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson for possible hypothermia and minor injuries.
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