Teens Form Human Chain to Save Children From Freezing Pond

The group of five 14- and 15-year-old boys were all students at Middletown High School North in Middletown, New Jersey. Some were reportedly Boy Scouts.

A frozen snow covered pond in the hills
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Image via Getty/Chas Breton / Barcroft Media

A frozen snow covered pond in the hills

A group of teens showed some heroics when they banded together to save two children from a frozen New Jersey pond, the local ABC affiliate reports

8-year-old Olivia Heid and her brother, RJ, were sledding at the country club in Middleton, New Jersey on Thursday when their inflatable sled hit a patch of ice and flew over the ridge, carrying them into a cold pond. Instead of freezing at the moment, the group of teens quickly sprung into action. 

The five teenage boys reportedly heard the children's mother, Stephanie Irlbeck, screaming and rushed to her aid. One of the boys jumped into the pond while the rest formed a human chain to help pull the children to safety. 

"I picked up RJ first ... the boys jumped in. I just tried to get them out of the water as quickly as possible," one of the rescuers, Kieran Foley, said while Irlbeck added: "The boys jumped in ... and they all formed a chain, and they handed them out as quickly as possible."

Irlbeck—who was watching the children with Rich Heid when the incident occurred—posted about the heroic event on her Facebook and the story went viral

Per NJ.Com, the 14- and 15-year-old boys were all students at Middletown High School North. Some were also reportedly members of the Boy Scouts. Although the pond wasn't dangerously deep, the children would have been in threat of catching hypothermia if they would've gotten trapped under the ice.

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