Published: Aug. 31, 2018
Jackson officer, boy reunite after life-saving event
By Nicholas Dettmann
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
JACKSON — Each day, Jackson police officer
Kyle Henning doesn’t know which way he’s going to turn out of the department’s
parking lot and do his routine patrol of the village.
If he feels like turning left, he will. The
same goes for turning right.
“Nothing is routine,” he said.
On Monday afternoon at around 4 p.m., he made
a turn into the trailer park on Highway 60 in the village and came to a stop
sign. He looked both ways. But when he looked to his left, he saw a handful of
people at the edge of a river, appearing to be struggling. “Something wasn’t
right,” Henning said Thursday outside the Village Hall.
“I didn’t even call it out on the radio,
didn’t put the lights on,” he said.
Henning quickly drove to the scene where he
met up with Lee Olson, Kyle Brierton and Rashelle Peters — all of Jackson.
Henning saw a boy struggling with water up to
his shoulders. He didn’t flinch.
“You could see three adults tugging at his
arms,” Henning said.
“I went to grab one arm and it felt ... it was
heavier than anything I could’ve pulled out myself,” he said.
He never thought about the possibility of
dying.
“I don’t question; you just go and help,”
Henning said.
Instead, he was determined to save that boy’s
life.
“He’s not going to die tonight,” Henning said.
He also thought about how hard it was going to be to swim in his uniform and gear.
“He wasn’t going to go further underneath than
he already was,” Henning said. “There was no way he was going another inch.”
Henning wrapped his arms, like a bear hug,
around the boy, Gavin Moederndorfer-Quella, 9, and, with the help of Olson,
Brierton and Peters, they pulled Moederndorfer-Quella to safety.
Since the dash cam video of the rescue was
posted on the police department’s Facebook page Wednesday, Henning has been
labeled a hero. When asked about it Thursday, he brushed it off.
“I’m only 25 percent of the equation,” he said.
“Without Rashelle and Kyle and Lee there, that
would’ve never happened,” Henning said. “It took all four of us to get him out
of there.”
Chief Ryan Vossekuil said he is “very proud” of
Henning’s selfless act.
Henning, who has been with the department since
December 2008, was greeted at the police station Thursday, shortly after
starting his 2 p.m. shift, by Moederndorfer-Quella and his mother, Taylor
Moederndorfer. They came to say thank you and
Moederndorfer-Quella hugged Henning, this time in a much calmer and drier
situation. He also got a tour of a police cruiser.
Taylor said she told her son to not go by the
river, which wasn’t far from their property. She said her son was dared by some
friends to jump in the water. When he did, things quickly escalated into panic
mode.
Taylor is grateful the three bystanders —
Olson, Brierton and Peters — were around when they were. She plans to thank
each of them as well as soon as possible.
Henning said the heroics by Olson, Brierton and
Peters shows the caliber of people that live in Jackson.
Taylor said she watched the video once it went
online and couldn’t believe what she watched.
“It was a miraculous thing,” Taylor said,
adding, “I’m thankful they came and helped.”
There is relief with the crisis having been
averted. However, Moederndorfer-Quella, his mom, Henning and others hope this
provides a valuable lesson about the dangers with high waters.
It can happen to anybody, Taylor said.
Gavin said he’s learned his lesson.
“Don’t go into high water like that,” he said.
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