Boy, 8, Falls Into River And Drowns

Boy, 8, Falls Into River And Drowns

Lawrence Parks

Victim Was Swinging On Rope Over Water

An eight-year-old Ann Arbor boy drowned in a canal off the Huron River yesterday when he lost his grip while swinging on a rope and plunged into 10 feet of water.

Lawrence Parks, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Lyman S. Parks of 314 W. Summit St., was pronounced dead at University Hospital at 7:35 p.m. after more than 30 minutes of futile efforts by rescuers to revive him.

Dr. Latunde Odeku pronounced the boy dead and Coroner Edwin C. Ganzhorn ruled the death accidental drowning.

The boy, who has a twin brother, Larry, could not swim, it was learned. His father, the Rev. Mr. Parks, is pastor of the Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor.

Had Been Swinging

Ann Arbor police said the boy had been swinging from a rope tied to the branch of a tree near the water only minutes before he fell. Officers said the boy’s brother, Leo Parks, 7, told them he and Lawrence used the rope to swing themselves out over the water and then swing back to the bank of the canal.

The canal is located west of the Broadway bridge and at the rear of 1007 Wright St. It leads into the Huron River.

Leo told officers he ran to 1007 Wright St. to ask for help when he saw his brother fall into the water about 6:15 p.m. Police were called and James Kramer, 25, who lived at that address, hurried to the canal and dove into the chilly water in a rescue attempt.

However, the murky waters hid the boy’s body and the cold forced Kramer to climb out onto the bank in a few minutes.

Thomas E. (Ed) Noonan, 36, of 1500 Longshore Dr. arrived on the scene and he, too, plunged into the canal to help search for the boy. Kramer and Noonan entered the water several times In the rescue attempt but were unable to locate the boy.

Is U-M Student

Kramer is a University graduate student from Muskegon. Noonan is a physical education instructor at Tappan Junior High School.

Before a boat from the Sheriff’s Department was brought to the scene, firemen and police officers used grappling hooks from the shore line to search for the body. At one point a canoe owned by Patrick Ryan on Long Shore Dr. was put into the canal to hunt for the boy.

Because it was not possible to use grappling hooks from the canoe, persons in it had to move slowly over the water, peering into the depths in the attempt to spot the body.

When the sheriffs boat arrived, Patrolmen Howard Zeck and Daniel Singer and Sgt. Howard Remnant began dragging operations near where the boy was last seen.

Find Boy’s Body

The dragging had scarcely started when Sgt. Remnant discovered the body about 25 feet from the spot where the boy fell from the rope.

The body was brought to the canal bank and Patrolmen Zeck and Donald Ing immediately began artificial respiration. Dr. David G. Dickinson helped direct the efforts to revive the boy.

Fire department personnel assisted with a resuscitator.

The body was placed in an ambulance and Officers Zeck and Ing continued artificial respiration throughout the trip to University Hospital. Doctors at the hospital took over the operation there.

RESCUER: Thomas E. (Ed) Noonan pauses after one of several dives into the canal where Lawrence Parks, 8, drowned last night. Noonan was one of two men who dove repeatedly into the water in a vain attempt to rescue the Parks boy.

DROWNING SCENE: Ann Arbor patrolman Howard Zeck (center right) and Assistant Fire Chief Paul Wenk (left) prepare to throw grappling hooks out into the water of the canal where Lawrence S. Parks, 8, drowned at dusk yesterday. Other rescue workers watch.