Warsaw Student & Mom Rescue Swimmers
July 1, 2021 at 11:47 p.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
Connor Suissi, who will be a senior during the 2021-22 school year, said he went to Washington Park Beach on Father’s Day with his family.
While Suissi’s family was at the beach, he said a group of people from Ohio got off a bus at the beach. Some of them started swimming.
According to Suissi, the fire department had just found a drop-off in the water. Six children, aged 9 to 14, according to Suissi’s estimates, swam to where the drop-off was. They got caught in the undercurrent and that was pulling them out farther into the water. The children were too tired to swim back to shore.
At the time, Suissi said there was a lifeguard station, but there weren’t any active lifeguards at the station. That is when Suissi and his mother decided to step in, Suissi said. According to him, he was able to bring two of the people to shore, while his mother was able to bring another two to shore. Another one was brought to shore by a lifeguard.
The remaining person couldn’t initially be found, but was later found by a jet ski operator and was transported to the hospital, Suissi said.
Suissi said he considers himself a strong swimmer and that helped him make the decision to jump into the water. He said he grew up swimming at his grandparents’ lakehouse.
When asked what was going through his head at the time, Suissi said he was just thinking about his two sisters who were roughly the same age as the six children that went into the water, and he’d want something done for his sisters if they were in that position. He said he felt pretty good about what he and his mother were able to do.
The fire department and police department did arrive on scene and took over. Suissi said he and his family don’t know what happened after that and never heard anything about the incident after that.
Suissi suggested swimmers should be cautious of how far they go out into the water, especially children; and parents should be vigil.
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Connor Suissi, who will be a senior during the 2021-22 school year, said he went to Washington Park Beach on Father’s Day with his family.
While Suissi’s family was at the beach, he said a group of people from Ohio got off a bus at the beach. Some of them started swimming.
According to Suissi, the fire department had just found a drop-off in the water. Six children, aged 9 to 14, according to Suissi’s estimates, swam to where the drop-off was. They got caught in the undercurrent and that was pulling them out farther into the water. The children were too tired to swim back to shore.
At the time, Suissi said there was a lifeguard station, but there weren’t any active lifeguards at the station. That is when Suissi and his mother decided to step in, Suissi said. According to him, he was able to bring two of the people to shore, while his mother was able to bring another two to shore. Another one was brought to shore by a lifeguard.
The remaining person couldn’t initially be found, but was later found by a jet ski operator and was transported to the hospital, Suissi said.
Suissi said he considers himself a strong swimmer and that helped him make the decision to jump into the water. He said he grew up swimming at his grandparents’ lakehouse.
When asked what was going through his head at the time, Suissi said he was just thinking about his two sisters who were roughly the same age as the six children that went into the water, and he’d want something done for his sisters if they were in that position. He said he felt pretty good about what he and his mother were able to do.
The fire department and police department did arrive on scene and took over. Suissi said he and his family don’t know what happened after that and never heard anything about the incident after that.
Suissi suggested swimmers should be cautious of how far they go out into the water, especially children; and parents should be vigil.
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