Matthew Curran

Matthew Curran rescued Casey Gerek from drowning, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, August 11, 2025. Casey, 17, was struggling to stay afloat as he was swept downstream amid a swift current in the flooded Menomonee River. He had fallen into the water intending to rescue his father, who went in after the family dog broke from its leash and entered the river. Curran, 34, on-duty police officer, was alerted that Casey was being taken by the current and, with another officer, responded to a bridge where a K-9 officer was trying to intercept Casey by dangling a long leash over the water. After that attempt failed, Curran and the other officer drove further downstream to get ahead of Casey and stopped the vehicle when they saw a tree clearing near the riverbank. Curran and the officer removed their duty belts and ballistic vests and advanced toward the bank. Curran stepped forward over the bank and entered the swift current. About then, Casey drifted toward him, and Curran grasped Casey’s right hand. The current swept them downstream and Curran attempted to grasp brush near the bank but missed it, then his face submerged and resurfaced. Taken by current about 100 feet downstream from where he entered, Curran grasped a low-hanging branch from a downed tree with one hand as he held Casey with the other, then pulled Casey toward the brush and held him against it. Curran then shouted so the other officer could locate them. He responded, along with other officers, and aided Curran in getting Casey over the branch. Once Casey was on the other side of the branch, in shallow water and weaker current, Curran then climbed over the branch himself. Aided by other officers, Casey sat on the ground and he vomited water he had ingested. Curran and the officers, with responding fire personnel, then carried Casey to an access road, where they awaited an ambulance. Casey was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was treated for minor hypothermia. He was later released. His father was removed from the water by rescue personnel upstream, while the dog apparently escaped the water on its own and was later found alive near the family vehicle in a nearby parking lot. Curran was uninjured.

2025-0000346-10581