Star Tribune
4-year-old Eli is back home recovering after nearly drowning in Minneapolis pond
Eli Steinbach, age 4, is home again with his mom and dad and four siblings after nearly drowning four weeks ago when he fell through the ice while exploring a pond near his Minneapolis home.
Eli had been underwater for about five minutes when a Minneapolis police officer charged into waist-deep water to pull him out, said his mother, Caitlyn Shields. Rescuers performed CPR on him for 30 minutes before his heart restarted.
Doctors and nurses at HCMC eased Eli’s recovery as he started eating and talking again, Shields said.
“It was terrifying,” she said, recalling the moment she looked out the living room window and saw her son’s bright green jacket lying on the pond’s thin ice. She realized immediately what had happened and called 911.
Eli, a high-functioning autistic child, had slipped out of the house before, and the family had recently installed new locks at their home in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood. Shields said she put him down for a nap on Nov. 26 along with his 2-year-old brother, Remi, before going to another room to change baby Daniel’s diaper.
A few minutes later, Shields said, she realized the house felt too quiet. Eli and Remi had snuck out and quickly made their way across the street to Bryn Mawr Meadows Park, where earlier this year the city installed two stormwater retention ponds near the intersection of Laurel and Morgan avenues. The ponds sit just across the street from the family’s home.
After Shields called 911, she raced to the pond.
“My heart just sunk,” she said. “You see this big hole in the ice. I knew that’s where he was, but … I kept calling out his name because he hides sometimes.”
Remi, still on the ice, was coaxed back to shore by his 6-year-old sister, Penelope, who stayed calm so he wouldn’t get excited and break through the ice, Shields said.
Minneapolis police officers quickly arrived and drove across the grass to the pond’s edge, Shields said. An officer then plunged into the pond, crashing through the thin ice to get to Eli and pull him out.
A firefighter kept chest compressions going for up to 30 minutes before Eli’s heart restarted, Shields said. She’s still hoping to learn the names of everyone involved in the rescue of her son.
Eli’s recovery at HCMC was no less dramatic. He required a ventilator and was put into a medically induced coma when he arrived, then spent weeks returning to his usual self. He sometimes has seizures, but doctors have told Shields they’re related to the traumatic brain injury he suffered.
When he resumed drinking liquids, he graduated to eating solid foods the same day. He continues to receive physical, speech and occupational therapy, said Shields, who praised the staff at HCMC.
“We found out he’s a complete anomaly,” she said, “to have memory, to be walking, talking and functioning as well as he is. He’s been doing really well.”
There is an online fundraiser to help with mounting medical costs that were made less bearable when Shields stopped working to care for Eli. They’re also dealing with a major water-pipe break at home that flooded their basement, destroying several items of value.
“We had to be at the hospital nonstop,” Shields said. “Plus, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”
She said she doesn’t know why the ponds weren’t enclosed by fencing, but the family has retained a lawyer. While a Minneapolis police officer often gets stationed near the ponds to keep people away, she said she’s twice seen people go out on the ponds attempting to ice skate.
Eli, meanwhile, is back at home enjoying his trucks and dinosaurs. He’s a big fan of Blippi and Bluey on YouTube, and is mostly just “an exuberant boy,” his mother said.
Shields said she and her husband, Joe Steinbach, have the kids all back together again now that Eli has returned from the hospital.
“I’m really glad it has had the outcome that it has had, for sure,” she said, “that I got to celebrate Christmas with all five of my kids, instead of mourning.”
Star Tribune staff writer Faiza Mahamud contributed to this story.
About 50 Ukrainian refugees have signed up to donate blood on Saturday in Minneapolis as a way to give thanks to Americans for welcoming them to this country and for support in the face of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The donated blood will then be given to the Children’s Hospital of Minnesota.
The Ukrainian American Community Center, located at 301 NE Main St. in Minneapolis, has organized the event. The blood drive will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, said Iryna Petrus, community outreach manager at the center.
“It’s a sign of gratitude to Americans for supporting Ukraine and saving children’s lives in Ukraine,” said Yosyf Sabir, speaking on behalf of the blood drive.
It’s also a way to say “thank you to the United States for welcoming us so warmly,” said Petrus. She said there will be a program at 10 a.m. Saturday when several leaders of the Ukrainian American Community Center will speak. She said the center is hopeful that Ukrainian groups in other parts of North America will do similar blood drives.
Those who are unable to give blood have been asked to donate cash, which will be used to purchase tourniquets that will sent to Ukraine to be used by persons who have been injured in the war. Every $50 raised will purchase one hemostatic tourniquet, the Ukrainian Center said in a news release.
If approved, that approach would drop the district’s fund balance to 6% of general fund expenditures. The current board policy is to maintain a fund balance of at least 10% of general fund expenditures.
Anoka-Hennepin’s current operating referendum brings in about $1,154 per student, but the state-allowed cap is about $2,200 per student. If increased to the cap amount, a referendum would bring in another $40 million, McIntyre said.
According to community feedback collected through surveys and community meetings over the last month, nearly 90% of respondents said they supported a referendum. Parents and families also expressed concern about growing class sizes as a result of cuts.
The two options have already been revised based on board members’ requests to reduce cuts that would mean fewer teachers at schools, McIntyre said.
At one point in the discussion, the district floated changes to middle and high school class schedules to save money, but that was removed after board member feedback. At the board’s meeting last month, several board members thanked district staff for transparency about potential cuts and responsiveness to board and community feedback.
“I would encourage people to keep asking questions,” Board Member Michelle Langenfeld said at the September board meeting, “because as we unfold more information, the opportunity becomes greater for us to make the most informed decision under these very, very difficult circumstances.”
On Monday morning, contract workers began snipping razor wire and removing it from fencing that was propped atop concrete barriers along the perimeter of the former Third Precinct police station, which was set ablaze during the uprising over George Floyd’s police killing.
Finally, the concrete barricades will come down, after 4.5 years. As private security guards looked on, contractors began removing the security measures put in place to secure the building at 3000 Minnehaha Av. after it became a focal point of protests.
For the past three years, Third Precinct police officers have been based out of a city building in downtown Minneapolis, with plans to eventually bring them back to a south Minneapolis Community Safety Center just down the street at 2633 Minnehaha Av.
What to do with the former police station – home to what has been called a “playground” for renegade cops – has been the subject of heated debate, with the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey at odds.
While the city debated its future, some conservatives jumped at the chance to use the charred building as a backdrop to hold press conferences and news reports in which they blasted the city and its leaders. Most recently, vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a campaign stop in front of the building earlier this month to blast his opponent, Gov. Tim Walz, for his handling of the 2020 riots and portray Minneapolis as a city overrun with crime.
GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance speaks outside the former Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct building in Minneapolis on Oct. 14. (Leila Navidi)
After that, several council members expressed frustration at the city’s failure to clean up the site. Despite signs saying “cleanup efforts are underway,” concrete barriers, fencing and razor wire remained all summer.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said earlier this month that the blight makes people feel uncared for and gives opportunists a backdrop to manipulate the scene for political gain.
Council Member Linea Palmisano blamed some of her council colleagues for the delays, accusing some members of being “desperate for any objection” to Frey’s proposal. The council passed a resolution saying that the building should not be used for any law enforcement functions again. Palmisano called it disgraceful that the building remains, scarred and secured, over four years later.
