Man who rescued boy from St. Joseph River in Elkhart speaks out

ELKHART, Ind. -- Police say a two-year-old boy was rescued from the St. Joseph River Wednesday afternoon.

One bystander is being hailed as a hero Wednesday when he saw a two-year-old boy floating in the St. Joseph River.

That man jumped into the river, and grabbed the child, despite the strong current.

“From what I know now, two years old like that's terrible and to hear he's still alive, that makes it all good, yeah, I'm basically crying right now,” said the bystander.

That man, who asked not to be identified, says he noticed some commotion by the river, with a couple people outside, frantically pointing at the river saying, “My baby!”

He then saw the two-year-old boy floating in the river, with the boy's family attempting to rescue him.

As the current swept the boy down the river, the man rushed down to the boat ramp, jumped in, and managed to grab the child.

Thankfully, the fire department was there to safely bring them back to shore, before rushing the boy to the hospital

"The firemen came over and threw me a rope and pulled us in, because I wasn't making it back, it was pulling me down, the river's high,” said the bystander.

That man hopes some other bystander would do it for his own daughter if something like this were to happen.

"Any kid can go out a screen door and go down the riverbank. If that happened to her, I don't know what I'd do, so I hope that someone else would jump in the river and grab my kid,” said the bystander.

At of the most recent report, the boy is in critical condition, and has been taken to Memorial Hospital for further treatment.

The boy’s father was also taken to the hospital for a minor injury he got trying to rescue his son.