(WICHITA, Kan.) — It started out as a game, but minutes later a Conway Springs boy was holding on for dear life. The seven-year-old was slipping off of his parents roof while fire fighters rushed to get a ladder. In the end the ladder wasn't needed and now the police chief is called a hero.
People usually know when something big happens in Conway Springs. "News in a town like this usually spreads pretty fast," said resident Tracy Dalbom. But the latest news travelled about as slow as the traffic on Main Street. "I'm surprised," said resident Theresa Barker.
Barker's surprised not many people knew about the 911 call of a seven-year-old stuck on his parent's roof Thursday. It happened in the 300 block of south 7th street.
"It was pretty scary. He was pretty scared and I was scared for him," said Conway Springs Police Chief Ken Winter. Winter says the boy was playing around 6:30 in the evening. He says the boy scaled a fence, climbed to the highest point of the roof and then slipped. "He was panicking and shaking, trying to hold his grip to the roof," he said.
The chief and other's tried to calm the boy as he clung to the roof. Fire fighters were rushing to get a ladder to the scene but his little arms gave and the boy fell. "I saw his arms give way and holler and I tried to get into the position to catch him. It happened so fast," Winter said.
But Winter moved fast enough and caught the little boy. "It was exhilarating. It was a great feeling once I kind of calmed down. I think I was just as scared as he was," he said. That's because if the boy had fallen the 14 feet, he and chief wouldn't have shared this moment. "Once he was on the ground, we pumped fists and everything was cool at that time," he said.
