Even a normal day can change into something totally different than what it started out as. This family was about to have a great day, but then their worst nightmare came true.
If not for this group of teenage boys, things might have turned out very differently…
8-YEAR-OLD Olivia Heid and her 4-year-old brother RJ were playing in their Middletown, New Jersey, backyard on Harmony Road. It was a lovely day, and their parents thought of a way to make it even more special for their small family.
Stephanie and Richard Heid thought it would be fun to take their kids sledding for the first time.
They went to Holmdel Park’s sledding hill first, but it was closed. Stephanie then went on Facebook to ask her friends and family for ideas. The Beacon Hill Country Club was one of the places they told her about. The family went to where the event was.
When they got there in the afternoon, they saw that the main hill was too crowded and a little too steep for their kids. They chose a hill that wasn’t as steep and had a smaller slope.
Stephanie said in an interview, “We have two saucer sleds, but my husband insisted on bringing this big inner tube sled that blows up.” “We sat in the car for half an hour and blew that thing up.”
The couple did notice that there was a pond to the right of the hill, but they didn’t think it would be a problem because it was far from the hill.
The kids’ first try was great, which made them eager to try again. RJ, Olivia’s younger brother, sat on her lap while she sat on the inflatable sled. Their dad gave them a big push, and they were off.
It looked like everything was going well until the sled hit a patch of ice near some trees and ricocheted into a dangerously frozen pond.
Since it was an inflatable sled, it stayed afloat for a while, but it kept sinking, putting the kids in serious danger.
Their parents were at the top of the hill shouting for help because they were worried that the kids wouldn’t make it to the pond in time. Help was already there, which was lucky…
A group of 14-year-olds in their first year of high school were there. Kieran Foley, Joseph Dietrich, Drew Scalice, Ryan Day, and 14-year-old Tyler Armagan were also sledding on the hill.
When they heard the noise, the teenage boys were throwing rocks into the pond to see if it was completely frozen.
Then they saw the small children falling into the pond. Kieran jumped into the pond to save them, even though it was dangerous for him.
“I didn’t see anyone else doing anything, so I just jumped in,” he said, thinking back on that scary moment. “I was like, whatever. I could walk right up to them because it wasn’t too deep. I picked them up, and then my friends made a chain. The boy was the first one we got, and we gave him to my friends. Kieran said, “Then I got the girl.”
Mom Stephanie said, “I couldn’t get down the hill fast enough.” “At the top of the hill, there were other families, and we were all yelling. I was amazed to see that the boys knew right away how to make a human chain. I don’t understand how they knew what to do. Everything is unbelievable.”
The boys were ready because Kieran and Drew were both in Middletown Boy Scouts Troop 47. Most likely, they learned how to do it during their training.
Kieran’s shoe got stuck in the pond, Tyler’s phone fell into the water, and another boy lost his headphones during the rescue. Stephanie and Richard offered the boys cash for their help, but they all said no.
“They were so humble it was crazy. They didn’t want anything, they were just worried about my kids. “You’re safe now,” they kept telling my kids. You’ll have hot chocolate and a warm bath when you get home.'” Stephanie said that she was happy to talk about the sweet conversation.