KYW Philly reports that Anthony Alexander, 16, was with friends at a park on Monday afternoon when he heard some kids screaming nearby. Three young children were walking across an ice covered pond when the ice broke and they fell into the frigid water. Alexander ran down the hill toward the pond as he called 911 on his phone.
The two girls and a boy were struggling to stay afloat, so Alexander tried to use a tree limb to reach them, but when the first kid grabbed the stick, it pulled Alexander into the water. He then waded out into the chest-deep water and pulled two of the children to the shore. The third child was further out in the pond, so Alexander started to swim out to her when Collingdale Police Sergeant Patrick Kilroy came up behind Alexander and pulled him out of the water.
Kilroy, an 18-year veteran of the force, swam out to the third child and was able to grab her arm and pull her to safety. He says the icy water was just beginning to take its toll on him when he made it to the shore. Kilroy and Alexander were treated for hypothermia. The heroes are both just glad that they were there because otherwise the situation might have turned into a tragedy.
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