Two girls were recovering Thursday evening after being pulled from an icy pond in Tinley Park.
The children, in their early teens, were on the ice near the Edgewater Walk apartments just before 5 p.m when they fell through. Police said the girls were about 20 feet off shore and in about six feet of water.
"They just, like, fell through. We didn't know what to do. We were just like, 'Whoa,'" recalled witness Carlos Lewis.
Lewis and his friend, Romario Oshana, said they were with the girls and tried to stop them from walking out on the ice, located just south and west of 167th Street and Oak Forest Avenue in the far south suburb.
"She continued walking and then she sank through. And she tried to anchor out but they both went under," said Oshana.
Off-duty Cook County Deputy Brian Manthey heard screaming from his condo and rushed down to the edge of the pond to help.
"The one was just yelling she couldn't reach the rope," he said. "The other was saying she couldn't feel her body."
He was ultimately able to help pull the girls to shore. They were were then taken to Advocate South Suburban Hospital where they were listed in good condition.
Authorities said the girls were in the water for a total of five to seven minutes.
