Crime & Safety
'Guardian Angel' Gets Award for Saving Toddler Who Fell in Fox River
Mom says 20-month-old would have died if Arnier had not been fishing on the Fox River that day.
Addison Firefighter Joel "Jay" Arnier received a Citizens Lifesaving Award for performing CPR on the toddler who fell in the Fox River, in unincorporated McHenry, May 11. Arnier happened to be on the river that day fishing.
"It was very scary. It's an image I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. If he wasn't there, she would have died," said Trisha Schuler, mom of 20-month-olf Kaitlyn Winoker, who fell in the Fox RIver after wandering out of the house with her siblings.
Schuler said she felt Arnier was Kaitlyn's guardian angel.
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Sheriff Keith Nygren recalled being a child and hearing of guardian angels.
"I always imagined guardian angels to watch over you and have a halo," Nygren said. He presented Arnier as a representation of what a real guardian angel looks like.
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