Plainfield Girl, 12, Falls Through Retention Pond Grate During Gym Class

A 12-year-old girl from southwest suburban Plainfield was rescued Friday morning after she fell 10 to 12 feet through a retention pond grate.

School officials say the seventh grader was running laps at about 10 a.m. around the field at Ira Jones Middle School for gym glass when she ran over the 4-foot-wide grate and fell backward into the hole.

"A young lady was jogging backwards and she tripped backwards, fell onto the grate and the grate gave way," school superintendent Lane Abrell said.

She fell into 2 feet of water below, and the grate, which weighs about 250 pounds, fell on top of her. Luckily, she only suffered a broken finger.

"No one thought it would break. She just accidentally stepped on it like anyone would, and it just fell and she fell in it," the girl's friend, Mekenzie Smith, said. "I was bawling, it was really scary, because no one knew if she'd survive, no one knew how deep the water was."

The girl was in the hole for about 25 minutes with the 250-pound grate resting on part of her. She was rescued by Plainfield Fire and Police and transported to a local hospital.

"It was really scary because we couldn't see her, all I saw were little fingers in the grate, but I did hear her voice, so that was reassuring that she was breathing," said Randie Hillison of Plainfield Fire Protection.