When a vehicle with two children still inside began submerging into the Ohio River during the Fourth of July fireworks show, several people helped ensure everyone made it back to shore safely. Harley Day said he is thankful the community came his family’s rescue.
Day said he stepped outside the vehicle for a moment, and shortly after his youngest child shifted the vehicle into neutral, causing it to start to roll down the English Park boat ramp and into the water.
Immediately, Day started trying to stop the vehicle, but he said he slipped in the mud and was ran over by the truck just after it went into the river with his two children still inside.
While Day was trying to save his truck, Connor Minogue, an onlooker, started running from his own vehicle at the top of the ramp to help.
“I just kept running, and there was actually a lot of people that were going to probably jump in,” Minogue said. “It was just, I was faster than all of them.”
After Minogue swam to the vehicle, Day already had two children in his arms. Minogue asked Day for one of the children and began swimming back to safety.
As Minogue was swimming with Day’s daughter on his back, the current began getting stronger and he had to fight it even more.
“I told the little girl just hold on to my neck, and we’ll get over there, we’ll figure it out,” Minogue said.
Once he got to shore, Minogue told someone to grab the daughter and ensure she was safe until the rest of the family was there.
“I have five kids around their age,” Minogue said. “So I would hope that someone would do that for me if I was stuck.”
Minogue didn’t get a chance to talk to the family after the events as several other bystanders and authorities rushed to the scene. Minogue said that while he got to help, he thought it was cool how the community came together to help the family in need.
Day said he is thankful for all who came to his family’s aid.
“I want to thank everyone who came together to help me rescue my kids,” Day said. “They’re very brave people to be putting up with the strong current of the river.”
Since the incident, Day has continued to receive help from the community. His sister-in-law Ashley Malcolm started a GoFundMe to help raise money for Day and his family. Since it started, Malcolm has raised more than $1,000 for the family.
“I am starting this in hopes to help my baby sister and brother-in-law and nieces and nephew,” Malcolm wrote. “They lost a lot of their things that were in the truck including diapers, bottles, clothes, money, etc.”
Day said in a Facebook post he and his family are at the Ascension St. Vincent Warrick Hospital.
