It’s Part of the Job: Heroic Principal Saves Autistic Boy From Icy River

Gonic School Principal Gwen Rhodes rescued an autistic student from the Cocheco River Wednesday, jilting words like “hero” and insisting that her actions were just part of the job; no different from what educators do each day.

Around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, EMS crews were called to the school for a report of a student running into the woods. The autistic student crossed a part of the river onto a peninsula, and eventually slipped. Rhodes and another educator had been following the student, and Rhodes responded when she heard the child scream. Recounting the scene, Rhodes said:

“He looked at me and he said ‘help.’ I said his name and said ‘don’t move’ and just then the ice cracked and at that point he’s going into the water, so I just reacted to get closer to him.”

The water was freezing, but the depth allowed the two to stand. Rhodes swam with the student upstream, to a tree, and slowly began to push the student out of the water and up onto the bank.

“I gave him directions step by step as we carefully worked our way up,” Rhodes said. “He did everything I asked him to do.”

They left the woods and were met by first responders. Both were taken to Frisbie Memorial Hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, primarily exposure. Instead of accepting the lauds and praise, Rhodes directed attention paid toward her heroism to education and educators as a whole instead.

“I think what I want people to know is I did what I did because I was in a circumstance where I had to think quickly,” Rhodes said. “Which is what an educator does every day.”

This is Rhodes’ fourth year as a principal, and she was a teacher herself for many years before that. She has never had to quell a situation like this in her career, but she doesn’t see it as very different from the daily grind.

“We are always making decisions and they’re all tough. This one just happens to be dramatic,” Rhodes said. “We try to put plans in place so these kind of incidents don’t happen, but we can’t predict every possible thing. Sometimes the unexpected happens.”

Take heart, dear reader. Here’s a piece of good news for the day.