5 Teenagers Save 2 Small Children After Sled Somehow Ends Up In Frigid New Jersey Pond
MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Five teenage boys are being hailed as heroes, after a day of sledding last week nearly turned tragic in New Jersey.
The teens jumped into action to save two children from an icy pond, CBS2's Kiran Dhillon reported Sunday.
As snow piled up and excitement ran high on Thursday, 8-year-old Olivia Heid and her 4-year-old brother, RJ, hopped on their sled for the first time ever. But little did they know what was about to happen next.
"Oh my God, this could have been a catastrophic situation," mother Stephanie Irlbeck said.
MORE: Sledding Hill Packed On Snow Day In New Jersey: 'All Part Of Being A Kid'
The family was sledding at the Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands. The kids were having a great time until their sled lost control.
"They were continuing getting more momentum. I realized right they're like holy crap, they're going down to that water," father Richard Heid said.
"You could see in their in their faces that they knew something bad was about to happen," Irlbeck added.
The sled steered right into an icy pond.
"It was like freezing. Our faces were in shock. RJ was like, really cold," Olivia Heid said.
Five teens nearby heard the commotion and then jumped into action.
"Me and Joey first saw them. I think we're both thinking, should we like jump in front of the raft to try to stop it?" Drew Scalice said. "We couldn't. It was going way too fast."
MORE FROM CBS NEW YORK:
- Snow Storm Leads To Heated Parking War In Passaic As Drivers Try To Reserve Dug-Out Spots
- Caught On Camera: Suspected Burglars Cart Off More Than $10,000 Worth Of Stolen Items, NYPD Says
- Connecticut COVID Travel Advisory Now Requires Visitors To Complete Online Health Form, Self-Quarantine
Instead, 14-year-old Kieran Foley jumped into the water, rescuing little RJ first and then Olivia. He handed each off one by one to his friends, forming a human chain rescue.
"We definitely had to do something. We can't just sit there and watch," Foley said.
MORE: Lifeguard Anthony Capuano, Who Has 1 Leg, Rescues Driver Who Plunged Into Water Off New Jersey
The boys got the kids to safety and are now being heralded as heroes in the community, a title they don't accept.
"Honestly, I feel like I didn't do much," Ryan Day said.
"We hope that anybody would do that. It just happened to be us there," Tyler Armagan added.
The Heid family disagreed.
"What they did was, like, just amazing," Richard Heid said. "It was awesome to see little kids do that."
"Adults wouldn't do things like that, you know?" Irlbeck said.
The parents said the teens didn't hesitate for a moment to help their kids and thus deserve all the recognition in the world.