Watch Middletown Teens From Sled Rescue On 'Good Morning America'

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Associated Press. Front page of the New York Post. CNN. The five Middletown teens who splashed into a frozen pond and saved two little children in a sledding accident last Thursday have now reached national fame.

At 10:30 Monday morning, Kieran Foley, 14, Joseph Dietrich, 14, Drew Scalice, 14, Ryan Day, 15, and Tyler Armagan, 14 — all freshmen at Middletown High School North — appeared on "Good Morning America." You can watch their interview below.

The rescue happened at 3 p.m. last Thursday, Dec. 17: Olivia Heid, 8, and her little brother, RJ, 4, were sledding at Beacon Hill Country Club when they hit a patch of ice and skidded onto a frozen pond. They landed seven feet into the pond and had started to sink in their blow-up sled as their parents raced down from the top of the hill. The teen boys had been standing near the pond; Foley jumped into the water to grab the kids and his friends formed a human chain to carry the children to shore.

Foley's boots got sucked off in the mud; he did the whole rescue barefoot.

"Good Morning America" called the story "a holiday miracle" akin to the ice rescue scene in "It's A Wonderful Life." They also highlighted Foley's training as a Boy Scout with Middletown Boy Scouts Troop 47. "Good Morning America" also has video the boys made recreating their rescue, and you can see Foley's muddy lost boot being retrieved from the pond. Watch:

"We were shaking; RJ was freezing," big sister Olivia told "Good Morning America."

"You could see the fear in their eyes," said mom Stephanie Irlbeck, 35, speaking of watching her children slowly start to sink in the pond. "I was screaming, 'Somebody get them!'"

Several of the boys had their cell phones in their pockets when they entered the water.

"A life is much more valuable than a phone," Foley told "Good Morning America."

"These things can be replaced," said Day. "Not lives."

The boys were also interviewed Monday morning by New Jersey News Channel 12, which will air throughout the morning. The two Middletown Boy Scouts, Foley and Scalice were interviewed by CNN, which will air later in the day on Monday.

Middletown High School North is preparing to honor all five boys with a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, and Middletown Township will hold its own commendation ceremony within the next few weeks, said Middletown Mayor Tony Perry.

"At a time when headlines are sad and often times negative, it's incredible to see the bravery of these five young men being dominated across all types of media, whether it's ABC New York or CNN," said Perry. "Especially during the holiday time it's even more heartwarming."

"I'm thrilled to see these five young Middletown residents honored," he continued. "Not only am I grateful for them swiftly jumping into action and preventing a horrible potential tragedy, I'm so happy to see them being recognized for their bravery."

The awards ceremony at High School North Tuesday will be a virtual event; Patch is trying to get the livestream.

Perry said the Township service will be at a later date because they want all the boys' families to be there, and the town wants to be able to do it safely during COVID.

How are these five incredible Middletown teens handling their newfound celebrity?

"The boys are very humble; not really thinking much of the attention," Ryan's mom, Kelly Walsh Day, told Patch. "They want to use this newfound fame to give back to our community. I think they are also looking forward to getting back to a 'normal life' of riding bikes and hanging out with their sixth friend (Andrew Schrager), who unfortunately wasn’t able to go sledding on that day."

Not only does the Middletown community love these boys, but another local child, Charlie Lettice, 11, honored the boys with his non-profit organization, Kids Who Kare.

Charlie gave each boy $100, said his mom, Jill Lettice; the money is donated to Charlie's non-profit by corporations. Day's mother said her son and his friends want to work with Charlie to do more good in the Middletown community.

Initial Patch story: Middletown Teens Save Children Who Sledded Into Frozen Pond (Dec. 18)

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