Cellphone video shows a dramatic rescue Sunday in a retention pond off I-90 in Huntley after a minivan with a mom and 10-year-old twins inside ran off the road.
Fielding Kalas was on his way home from work when he came upon the crash and rushed into the water.
"I got out, looked over, saw a car upside down in the pond," Kalas said.
He said the water was 35 degrees, jet black, murky and like walking through "wet concrete."
Kalas says the mother was frantic.
Using a rope and hammer he keeps in his truck, Kalas got to work trying to help the 10-year-old girl.
"I told her don’t worry," he said.
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Kalas and several other good Samaritans worked to free the girl’s brother, but it was too late.
Cameron Simmons was a fourth-grader at Black Hawk Elementary School.
The superintendent released a statement saying “our thoughts and prayers go out to Cameron's family during this difficult time.”
This is not the first time a rescue has taken place in this same location. Last year— good Samaritans rescued a woman after her car swerved off an exit ramp in that same area.
Fielding is glad he was able to save the little girl Sunday night.
But says he doesn’t consider himself a hero.
I just think we’re being good people," he said. "Heroes are defined by lots of things ... (we were) just being good Samaritans."
A family member told NBC 5 that the little girl and her mother were both home from the hospital and recovering Monday.
State police say the investigation into the crash continues.
A GoFundMe has been set up for Cameron Simmons' memorial.
