A pair of Lehigh Township police officers are being lauded for their work in rescuing an elderly woman who fell waist-deep into a freezing pond over the weekend.
Officers Elias Batihk and Anthony Stinemire responded just after 2:30 p.m. Sunday to the koi pond at the woman’s home in the 3400 block of West Walker Drive. Police were alerted to the emergency by a 911 medical pendant activation.
The 84-year-old woman was spotted by the officers waving her arms in the air. Police said she slipped and fell into the water while attempting to clean her pond’s water pump.
Officers told WFMZ-69 News that the rocks were too uneven for the woman to climb out on her own. Batihk said in the broadcast that every moment matters in an emergency. The woman reported already being in the water for about 20 minutes before police arrived.
Additionally, a light snow shower was reported by weather forecasters in the area at the time of the rescue.
“If it was about 20 minutes longer, she likely would have passed out from severe hypothermia,” Batihk said.
The officers, with the help of a neighbor, were able to pull the woman from the pond and then bring her back to her home, where she was wrapped in a blanket and placed next to a heater, Stinemire said in the broadcast.
The woman was then taken to an area hospital, where medical staff found her body temperature had dropped to 88 degrees. The woman is expected to make a full recovery, township police said.
“Officer Batihk and Officer Stinemire saved a life today,” the department posted on their Facebook page Sunday evening.
Batihk urged families to ensure elderly loved ones have medical pendants.
“Without that, there’s no doubt in my mind, we’d be at a different story here,” he said.
Officer Batihk has been with the Lehigh Township Police Department since 2017, while Officer Stinemire has served since last year, according to the department’s website.