Olivia Heid, then eight years old, and her younger brother, RJ, then four years old, were frolicking in the backyard of their home on Harmony Road in Middletown, New Jersey, on a particular Thursday morning.
Because the weather was so nice, Stephanie Heid and her husband Richard made the executive decision to take their children sledding for the very first time.
But not one of them had any idea what was going to take place later that day.
They were completely unaware of what was going to happen
Following their delectable meal, the Heids began their search for an ideal location for their children to spend the afternoon. They began their adventure by going to the sledding hill in Holmdel Park; however, it was closed.
Stephanie resorted to Facebook in order to seek recommendations from her followers, and several of them pointed her in the direction of the Beacon Hill Country Club.
Between two and three in the afternoon, the family showed up at the Beacon Hill Country Club. However, when they checked out the main hill, they found that it was overcrowded and had an excessively steep slope. They made the choice to go up a much more manageable hill that was situated to the left and had a gentler slope.
Stephanie shared Patch: “We have two saucer sleds, but my husband insisted on bringing this big blow-up inner tube sled. We spent half an hour sitting in the car blowing that thing up.”
What they didn’t realize was that having that inflatable sled would end up being a blessing for them.
Never ignore the little things.
The couple took note of the pond that was situated to the right of the hill but didn’t think much of it. They never believed it would cause them any trouble because it was so far away.
After their initial run-off went as smoothly as butter, Olivia and RJ decided to try again. RJ sat on the lap of his older sister while she sat on the inflatable sled.
Unaware that it would be the beginning of their family’s nightmare, Richard gave the kids a strong push down the hill.
Unfortunately, the kids’ inflatable sled ricocheted off a patch of ice near a tree and fell into the frozen pond.
It managed to float for a little period of time before sinking rapidly; it was a scary sight to witness because it put Olivia and RJ in grave risk.
The right people at the right moment.
As luck would have it, 14-year-old high school freshmen Tyler Armagan, Kieran Foley, Joseph Dietrich, Drew Scalice, Ryan Day, and Tyler Armagan were also sledding.
The teenage boys were testing to see if the pond was completely frozen over by throwing rocks into it. They were caught off guard when they heard people screaming up the hill, so they ran to check what was going on.
They witnessed the siblings’ gradual submersion into the icy pond at that location. Kieran acted without hesitation in order to save them and didn’t even bother to think twice about it.
When he thought back to that terrifying moment, he said: “I didn’t see anyone else be able to do anything, so I just jumped in. I was like, whatever. It wasn’t deep so I could walk right over to them. I picked them up and my friends formed a chain and we got the boy first, and handed him to my friends. Then I got the girl.”
Born ready!
It turned out that Kieran and Drew were both part of Middletown Boy Scouts Troop 47. No need to speculate about how or why they are able to do that; it is highly likely that it is one of the skills that they picked up while they were in the Boy Scouts.
During the process of rescuing the teens, Kieran’s boot became mired in the pond, Tyler’s phone was submerged in the water, and another teen misplaced his headphones. They declined Stephanie and Rich’s offer of financial compensation, which they had intended to give them as a thank-you gift.
The moral of the story is that there are good people in the world, and they are always willing to lend a hand when needed. In the situation involving these teenage boys, they have demonstrated to all of us that their quick thinking and willingness to put others before themselves can save lives.