ABOVE PHOTO: Retired Chicago Police Boss & current Des Plaines Police Chief
William "Chopper 1" Kushner
Two local police officers were honored in Des Plaines recently for their courage and quick thinking in a pair of life-saving rescue operations in the community.
Evanston police officer Sean O'Brien, 27, was off duty March 5 when he happened to be in his car, stuck in traffic in Des Plaines.
Peering out the window, O'Brien said he was troubled to see a young boy wandering alone near the intersection of Miner and River Roads, walking down Schwab Road toward the icy Des Plaines River.
O'Brien said he became alarmed, prompting him to park his car and follow the boy to see where he was heading. After the boy tossed a snowball in the river and jumped in to retrieve it, O'Brien sprang to action, pulling the fully submerged child above the surface of the river and carrying him safely to the snowy banks.
The child was unharmed, and after authorities contacted the family, O'Brien learned the boy is autistic, and had wandered away from his grandmother's home while she was babysitting him.
"A week later, I had a chance to meet his family, and they were very grateful," O'Brien said.
Steven Dickson, a Des Plaines police officer, also was commended for his response to a 911 call March 11 on Oakton Street involving an unresponsive 55-year-old woman.
After Dickson was unable to find the woman's pulse, he immediately began CPR, which led to the victim regaining her pulse and a faint heartbeat before being transported to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Still, the rescue was bittersweet for Dickson, 35, who learned that the woman lived for only a few more days.
"She survived for only a short time, but her family was able to get to the hospital to see her," Dickson said.
Both O'Brien and Dickson were presented with Life Saving Awards by Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner at a June 17 city council meeting.
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