Elyria man saves 7-year-old boy from drowning in Coe Lake in Berea

By Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.comBEREA, Ohio – An Elyria man, 37, saved a 7-year-old Cleveland boy from drowning Oct. 25 in Coe Lake.The incident occurred at about 7 p.m. The boy and his family were in Coe Lake Park that day. His grandmother was watching him near the gazebo and boat launch.Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was in another section of the park with friends and his aunt was in the Coe Park playground with her own child.The grandmother entered the bathroom. When she walked back outside, the boy was gone. The grandmother called the boy’s aunt in an effort to locate him. The Elyria man saw the boy struggling to stay afloat in the lake near the dock. The boy then slipped under the water. The man jumped into the lake, grabbed the boy and pulled him out of water. The man called police and gave the boy his sweatshirt to stay warm.Police and paramedics arrived at about the same time as the boy’s mother, grandmother and aunt. The boy was taken to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights for further evaluation. I cover City Halls and school boards in Brecksville, Broadview Heights, North Royalton and Strongsville, specializing in watchdog journalism. As a staff reporter for cleveland.com and Sun News, and now as a...