In a heart-stopping incident, five brave teenage boys emerged as heroes after a sledding adventure took a dangerous turn.
Stephanie Irlbeck, along with her family, had chosen Beacon Hill Country Club in the Atlantic Highlands as their winter getaway spot.
Eager to experience the thrill of sledding, her children, Olivia and RJ, decided to try it out for the first time.
Armed with saucer slides and an inflatable sled, the siblings set off away from the main hill, which was bustling with activity.
They chose a less steep side to sled down, thinking it would be safer for their maiden voyage.
Although there was a pond to the right of the hill, the family believed it was at a safe distance and angle from where the children would end up.
However, as the siblings made their descent, things took a turn for the worse.
Their sled veered off course, landing them near a tree on a patch of ice.
This caused them to spin backward, sending them hurtling into the pond.
To their horror, the pond was only partially frozen, making their situation even more perilous.
Stephanie recounted the terrifying moment to NJ.com.
She shared:
“They landed about seven feet into it and broke through the ice immediately. Because they were on one of the inflatable sleds, it kind of floated for a second.”
But then, the sled began to fill with water.
Nearby, five teenagers heard the commotion.
Keirnan Foley, one of the teens, recalled hearing a frantic father shouting, “Hop off! Hop off!”
On seeing the sled with the two children sinking, Foley didn’t hesitate and plunged into the water.
He was the first to reach the distressed siblings.
They all hopped into action.
Foley’s friends, Tyler Armagan, Ryan Day, Joey Dietrich, and Drew Scalice, quickly formed a human chain.
This allowed Foley to hand over the children to them, ensuring they were safely brought to the shore.
Although the pond was shallow, the water could easily submerge younger children like RJ.
The frigid temperatures added another layer of danger.
The teenagers, however, managed to calm the shaken kids by engaging them in a conversation about Christmas, effectively diverting their attention from the traumatic event.
They then escorted them back to their waiting parents.
The parents were overwhelmed with gratitude.
Stephanie shared, “You know, they didn’t want anything in return. They just said, over and over, ‘We just want to make sure your kids are okay, that’s the only thing that we care about.’”
In a small gesture of appreciation, Stephanie’s husband offered Foley a pair of boots to replace the one he lost during the rescue.
Once back home, Stephanie took to Facebook to express her gratitude to the teenagers and their parents.
The community was quick to label them as heroes.
However, Foley humbly stated to NJ.com,
“Everybody played a part in rescuing these children. It was a big team effort and I’m grateful they got out of the water in time and nothing bad happened or anything, because it could have been much worse.”
Watch the video below to meet these amazing teen heroes for yourself!
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Source: YouTube – Good Morning America, NJ.com, Patch
