New Jersey Teenagers Rescue Two Children Who Sledded Into Frozen Pond

Five teenagers from New Jersey are being hailed as heroes after they saved two children who fell into a frozen pond while sledding.

The accident happened on Thursday at Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands when the young kids were on their first-ever sled ride. Eight-year-old Olivia Heid and her 4-year-old brother RJ, from Middletown, sledded into a partially frozen pond, broke through the ice and fell into the freezing water. They were rescued by a group of brave teenage boys who formed a human chain to pull them out of the water.

The kids came to Beacon Hill with their parents, Rich Heid and Stephanie Irlbeck, on Thursday. The family opted for a less steep area for their kids' first sled experience as they noticed that steeper slopes were crowded, reported news outlet Patch.

The first ride was successful but during the second attempt, the sled turned backward after it rebounded from a tree. It then went over a snow-covered ridge and flew straight into the pond.

The teenagers – Kiernan Foley, Joseph Dietrich, Drew Scalice, Ryan Day and Tyler Armagan, all freshmen at Middle town High School North – heard the screams for help and noticed the kids' sled falling into the freezing pond.

Foley, who was also a member of the Boy Scout troop leaped into the water and waded out to the sinking tube sled. He picked them up and passed the kids one by one to his friends, who formed a human chain. The teens also comforted the kids who were terrified until their parents were able to race down the hill.

"What was amazing to me was to see the boys immediately know how to form a human chain. I don't know how they knew to do that. The whole thing is incredible," Irlbeck told Patch.

The kids' parents offered the teens reward for their heroic act but they refused to accept anything in return. "They were insanely humble. They didn't want anything, they just wanted to make sure my kids were OK. They kept saying to my kids, 'You're safe now. You're going to get a hot chocolate and a warm bath at home," Irlbeck added.

"Thank you. Thank you for having such amazing kids," she wrote on Middletown's Facebook page. "Not only did they stop a potentially catastrophic situation they didn’t even want anything in return."