COLUMBUS, Ohio – A man is dead after trying to save a child from an icy Columbus pond Thursday night and the child was clinging to life Friday morning.
James Jenkins, 30, saw the boy fall through the ice on the pond at the Hartford on the Lake apartments just after 5:30 p.m. and went into the water to save him, Columbus police said.
Jenkins reached the child but, despite the efforts of bystanders, police and firefighters, the two submerged before the Columbus Fire Dive Team arrived.
Divers pulled the two from the water and they were rushed to the hospital but Jenkins was pronounced dead at Grant Medical Center at little over an hour later, police said.
The boy, whose name was not released, was listed in life-threatening condition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Divers pulled both people from the ice, but Jenkins died at Grant Medical Center. The boy is in critical condition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
According to reports, the pond on Lakeside South has been the scene of three deadly mishaps since 1998.