Firefighter Sings 'Happy Birthday' to Rescue Girl from Ice

When Cincinnati firefighters arrived at Bramble Park on Wednesday, they found an 11-year-old girl standing on a ledge barely two feet wide, trapped between a 20-foot ravine and freezing water below.

The girl, who has autism, had wandered dangerously close to the icy creek. One wrong move could have sent her tumbling into water of unknown depth, covered with ice of unknown thickness.

Lieutenant Collin Grove from Rescue 9 knew his team had to act fast but carefully. "We had about a 20-foot-tall ravine, and at the bottom was the child, who had maybe a two-foot-wide path between the steep hill and the water," he explained.

Firefighter Taylor Kuhlmann suited up in a dry suit and made his way down a ladder toward the frightened girl. The rescue team faced a delicate challenge: they needed to reach her without startling her into slipping off the narrow ledge.

Kuhlmann approached slowly, making sure she could see him coming. When they were face to face, he asked her a simple question: "What's your favorite song?"

She answered "Happy Birthday." So that's exactly what they sang together while Kuhlmann carefully fitted her with a life jacket matching his own. "When she and I are looking at each other and we're putting her PFD on, we're just singing 'Happy Birthday' back and forth to each other," Kuhlmann recalled.

The girl was cold and shivering but thankfully not wet. Within 20 minutes, she was safely back on solid ground.

Sunny's Take

The reunion at the top of the ravine made all the training worthwhile. When the girl's father came around the corner and saw his daughter safe, Kuhlmann felt the weight of their mission. "Seeing them meet, that's why we do this," he said.

This wasn't luck or chance that saved this child. Kuhlmann's squad has practiced water rescues nearly six times since January began, preparing for exactly these kinds of emergencies in winter conditions.

Their preparation paid off in the form of one grateful family and one brave girl who'll remember the firefighter who sang with her on the scariest day of her young life.