A Chase firefighter went the extra mile – or 15 feet in this case – to help out a community member.
Tracey Simpson was one of a group who went to the pier at Memorial Park in Chase to have an end-of-day swim on Friday, July 9.
With her was nine-year-old Torin Le Jeune. As Torin was picking up her towel, her eye glasses, which had been sitting on it, fell into the lake.
“She was so devastated,” Simpson said. “She felt so horrible, she’s so careful with her glasses.”
In the spot where they went down, the lake is about 15 feet deep, Simpson surmised.
Thinking it couldn’t hurt, Simpson posted on Facebook, offering a $50 reward for anyone who could retrieve the pink glasses. Although people dove for them that night and the next day, no one could find them or get deep enough to reach them.
However, on July 10 in the evening, she received a Facebook post.
“I got your glasses,” wrote Robert Greenaway.
Simpson jumped into her truck and drove down to the park to meet him.
“I was so excited I was shaking,” she said. “I didn’t think it would happen for a couple of weeks.”
That’s when the lake level goes down, making the bottom more accessible, she explained.
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Simpson said Greenaway and his son are both volunteers with the Chase Fire Department and they used snorkel gear and flippers to get them.
Fire Chief Brian Lauzon said Greenaway happened to be wearing his fire department T-shirt at the time, but it was not a fire department call-out.
“Just the good intentions of this individual,” Lauzon said.
It took several tries. Lauzon stopped just short of calling it a miracle that Greenaway spotted them.
“It’s very fortunate that he actually found them; visibility gets pretty dark at the drop off to the pier.”
Simpson gave the glasses to Nakia Le Jeune, Torin’s mom.
Nakia was also shocked they were found. She said Torin’s dad and other people had tried, so she was about to contact the eye doctor to order a new pair. She noted that Torin’s eyesight is quite poor in one eye so she can’t do without them.
Nakia surprised her daughter with them.
“Torin was so happy, she had tears in her eyes,” Nakia said.
Simpson gave a shout-out on Facebook. “Huge RAVE to Robert J. Greenaway and the Chase Volunteer Fire Department. Seriously can’t thank you guys enough for finding those glasses. This Village is so lucky to have people like you.”
Nakia agreed.
“Our little community does this kind of stuff. Everybody shows up for each other – it’s really great.”
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