2 Men on Mattress Rescued from Floating Ice Island in Rock River

As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." In this case, we have several pictures and lots of words in the form of questions. 

The Rockford Fire Department rescued two men from the Rock River on Monday afternoon, near the Jefferson Street Bridge. How the two men got themselves into this dangerous situation is the source of all our questions.

As you can see in the photos, the men have some fishing gear, but what's the mattress about?

Why did they walk into a rapidly melting river?

Did they think the mattress could be their flotation device if they fell through?

What is that guy in the reddish-orange vest smoking?

Is what he's smoking the reason behind all of their bad decisions?

Is it also why these two men don't seem to be at all concerned with the possibility of drowning?

We may never know the answers to those questions, but the good news is that these men are now safe. Lucky for these guys that the river's current was pretty weak, making it much easier the Rockford Fire Department rescue divers to save them. According to the department, it only took the rescue team four minutes to bring these guys to dry land.

#UPDATE: Here are images from the water rescue on the Rock River by the E. State Street Bridge Monday afternoon, courtesy of Pam Munger.

Posted by WIFR TV on Monday, March 1, 2021

Steve Shannon is host of The Steve Shannon Show on 97ZOK. On the air weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. and a special 'Rewind' show, featuring favorite moments from previous shows, on Saturday mornings from 5 to 7 a.m.. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and like his page on Facebook.

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