Noah Thompson Identified As Boy Who Drowns After Saving Girl From Icy Pond

MILLERTON, New York -According to the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, a senior from Webutuck High School drowned on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Iron Mine Pond location off Shagroy Road in Taconic State Park after he and a companion fell through the ice. According to his mother Dayna Cook of Amenia, Noah Thompson, 17, was at the pond with a buddy. The incident happened at about 2:50 in the afternoon.

The two adolescents were about 20 to 30 feet from the shore when the ice shattered, sending them both into the sea, according to the Sheriff’s Office. His aunt Stephanie Thompson of Champlain stated, “They weren’t skating. He shoved the girl back onto the ice while they were together.

Although Thompson was unable to exit the water, his friend managed to return to the land and dial 911. After hearing all the fire calls, a friend called to inform his mother about the disaster.

“Is Noah at home?” her friend asked.

“That was his spot,” Cook said. “They went up there a lot in the summer.

“He was a hero. He saved her by pushing her back onto safe ice,”

Cook said.

The Millerton Fire Company was the first on the scene and requested further resources, according to Jason Watson, head of the Northeast Fire District and Millerton Fire Company. In New York and Connecticut, more than 100 firefighters and emergency professionals from various agencies responded and were on the scene for more than three hours.

Shagroy Road, which is off Rudd Pond Road, is located in Taconic State Park and is about a five-minute hike from the pond. Rescue workers must enter the site on foot because there is no road access. Due to its secluded, tranquil location, the pond is a favorite among locals. A sign posted on a tree on the way to the pond states “Keep Off the Ice.”

Stephanie and her sister, Jennifer Thompson of Wassaic, were visiting the site of the drowning on Saturday morning.

“We wanted to see where it happened,” Stephanie said. “To see if there was still some of his spirit here.”

His aunts and his mother described Noah as someone with a gift to easily make people smile.

“He’s got a smile that’s infectious,” his mother said.

“He had the biggest, biggest heart,” Stephanie said. “And he was not just a kid who fell through the ice. He was a brother and a son and a grandson.”

She said Noah was a baseball player who participated in farm leagues and school leagues. About 50 Webutuck High School students received counseling on Saturday at the institution.

According to Ray Castellani, superintendent of schools, “all hands are on deck” for all the pupils on Monday.

It will be a difficult few days, he predicted.

The man was rescued and taken to Sharon Hospital in Connecticut after the arrival of the DIVE Team and rescue personnel from several agencies, where he was subsequently pronounced dead, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

“They worked on him for three hours at Sharon Hospital,” Stephanie said. “But he had been underwater too long.”

Among agencies assisting the Sheriff’s Office were: the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response; New York State Police; New York State Parks Police; New York State Parks; and numerous fire departments from Dutchess County, Columbia County, and Connecticut. Fire department units on the scene, besides those from Millerton, included: Town of North East Medic 1; Amenia; Wassaic; Pine Plains; Stanford; Millbrook; Union Vale; Dover; Copake; Ancram; Hillsdale; Craryville; Sharon; Lakeville; Canaan; and Sheffield, Massachusetts.

Additionally, DIVE Teams from the Goshen (Connecticut) Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office as well as the Patrol Bureau, Marine Patrol, Unmanned Aerial Systems Unit (drones), and Detective Bureau of the Sheriff’s Office all responded.

Everyone was urged by the Sheriff’s Office announcement to proceed with the utmost caution if walking on ice, particularly during times of rapidly changing temperatures.