When three children fell into an icy pond over the weekend, a Colorado woman was praised for acting quickly.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said four juvenile relatives, ages 4 to 11, were playing on a frozen pond in a Denver neighborhood Sunday afternoon when three of them fell in.
Dusti Talavera, 23, a neighbor, watched the horror unfold from her window.
She told the story on a press conference on Monday that she was immediately at the pond pulling the two kids out, faster than a speeding bullet.
Talavera was able to save a 4-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy from the water, but the third child, a 6-year-old girl, was more difficult to save. Talavera was assisted by the girl’s 16-year-old male relative in pulling the girl from the water.
Talavera recalled that she tried so hard to keep their heads up and that was when a young man threw a rope at them and successfully pulled them out.
Within minutes, sheriff’s deputies from Arapahoe County and authorities from South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) arrived on the scene. The 6-year-old child, however, was not breathing, cognizant, or had a pulse, according to the sheriff’s office.
The girl was brought to a children’s hospital in the area. The girl has now been released from the hospital, reunited with her family, and is in good health.
People and animals were reported going out onto ice-covered bodies of water, according to SMFR. Residents have been urged not to venture out into these places as temperatures rise and the ice becomes less stable.
