FRANKLIN, Wis. — A teenager is being evaluated at the hospital after being rescued from the Root River in Franklin.
Franklin Police and Fire responded around 4:30 p.m. on August 10 to 911 calls of a person who went missing in the Root River near 65th and Drexel Avenues on Franklin’s northeast side. Due to the severe weather and flooding from the previous night, the operation quickly shifted to a water rescue.
Officers were able to find the missing male teenager, who was holding on to a tree branch and standing on a submerged log in the water about 100 yards downstream from where he entered. The Franklin Fire Department’s Dive Rescue Team deployed an inflatable rescue boat to safely remove him from the water and bring him to shore.
The teen was able to walk on his own to a waiting ambulance and be reunited with his family. He was taken to Children’s Wisconsin for a medical evaluation. No other people were with him in the water.
The Root River was over its banks and crossing over Drexel Avenue with a strong current, so officers had already barricaded and closed off the road when the incident occurred. No other injuries were reported.
