Teen talks about water rescue

DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio - A Deerfield Township teenager says now he knows why he should listen to his mother. The lesson comes after he was swooped up in a creek after Sunday night's downpour.

Thirteen-year-old Logan Cittadino says he knows he's lucky someone heard his calls for help. It was around 8:30 p.m. when his bike adventure at the creek near Landen Lake took a bad turn.

"I was sitting there praying. I was praying to God that I would get out of this," said Cittadino.

Cittadino was walking his bike across the creek when the fast moving current from the earlier rain knocked him down. "Like an undertow," he said. "I've been in oceans. It's never been that bad.. just flew down."

Someone in a home nearby heard Cittadino's calls for help and called 911.

"My head was underwater for a second. I popped up. I saw that branch. I just grabbed it," Cittadino said.
 

The muddy and heavily wooded ravine made it hard for rescue workers to get to Cittadino. They quickly got a life jacket and rope to the stranded teen. It took about an hour to pull him to safety.

Cittadino says his mother always told him not to hang around near the creek. Karen Cittadino says she is in shock about what happened to her son.

"He could have died. I could be identifying his body last night. I sent out a message. Kiss your children because I almost lost mine," she said.

Now the 8th grader at Kings Junior High says he knows why emergency workers warn you to stay away from creeks after a rain.

Deerfield Township Fire Department Lt. Patrick Strausbaugh said you can easily get swept off your feet by water.

"It's very easy to hydroplane, just like in a car," he said.

Cittadino said, "I thought I could get through it. I thought it was easy. I thought wrong. One of the dumb things I'll do in my life," he said.

Cittadnio was taken to the hospital to be checked out. His only injuries are cuts and bruises.