N.J. teens rescue kids from icy pond after sledding crash – NJ.com

Stephanie Irlbeck’s two young kids had never been sledding before Thursday. Their first time was a slightly traumatic experience.

Olivia, 8, and RJ, 4, hit a patch of ice and skidded into a frozen pond. They broke the ice and plunged into the bitterly cold water.

But thanks to the quick thinking and bravery of some nearby Middletown teenage boys, the two kids were pulled out of the freezing water and safely brought onto land. The incident was first reported by Patch.

“Thank God (the boys) were there. My kids are still talking about them, they will never forget this,” Irlbeck told NJ Advance Media. “I’m so grateful for them.”

Irlbeck said the family went to the Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands to go sledding after Wednesday’s snowstorm, bringing along two round saucer slides and an inflatable sled.

Since the main hill was fairly crowded and steep, they went to another side with less of an incline. There was a pond to the right of the hill, but Irlbeck didn’t think it was going to be a problem, since it was far away and at a 90-degree angle from the hill’s bottom.

The first run went fine. But when the siblings went for another run down the hill, they landed on a sheet of ice near a tree and spun backward, Irlbeck said, propelling them into the partially frozen pond.

“They landed about seven feet into it (and) broke through the ice immediately. Because they were on one of the inflatable sleds, it kinda floated for a second,” before taking on water, Irlbeck said.

She started screaming and saw the five teenagers, who were nearby, running towards the kids before they broke the water.

Kiernan Foley, 14, reached the kids first and pulled them to his friends, Tyler Armagan, 14, Ryan Day, 15, Joey Dietrich, 14, and Drew Scalice, 14, who formed a human chain to bring the kids safely to shore.

RJ doesn’t know how to swim, so Irlbeck said her mind was consumed with the horrific possibilities something worse could have happened.

“What if they would have got pulled under the ice? What if this could’ve happened, what if that could’ve happened, (but) they were okay,” Irlbeck said. “Kiernan got to them in time. They got my little one first and then he got my second one, up the chain to the other boys.”

The boys helped the kids calm down and asked questions about Christmas to take their minds off the incident as they walked back up the hill, Irlbeck said.

Foley lost a boot in the rescue, and Irlbeck’s husband offered both his shoes and sweatpants to him, while they warmed up the kids. Foley took the boots, but other than that, the teenagers refused anything else, Irlbeck said.

“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,’” Irlbeck said, adding they wouldn’t even accept a ride home. (One of the boys’ dad had been called to pick them up.)

When the family returned home, Irlbeck posted a message of gratitude in the town’s local Facebook group, thanking both the boys and their parents for their actions that day. The post went viral, earning more than 2,000 likes and 400 comments.

The boys, all freshmen at Middletown High School North, said they did what anyone else would’ve done in the same situation. They also said the pond wasn’t too deep, but if the kids had gone under the ice, they could’ve experienced hypothermia.

“We really thought, or hoped, anyone would do the same for us, or anyone,” Scalice, who is a Boy Scout, said. “I mean, we were kinda brought up that way, to help if someone needs help.”

Foley, who is also a Boy Scout, said although he was the one in the water directly moving the kids, the rescue was a group effort.

“Everybody played a part in rescuing these children,” he said. “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.”

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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.