Teh One Who Knocks
02-05-2021, 12:36 PM
Karin Johnson - WLWT5
https://i.imgur.com/nqUmZF8.png
JACKSONBURG, Ohio — Brookelynn Pruitt gave her horse, Oliver, a lot of extra love Monday afternoon.
"C'mon Olly. Good boy," she said as she called him over to show off his braids.
Brookelynn, 13, was braiding Oliver's mane Friday evening when he started getting anxious.
"I'm looking around like, 'What is he scared about?'" Brookelynn said.
In the distance, Brookelynn saw two young neighbors — Nevadah and Hope — on the frozen pond near her home in Ohio.
"I seen them running around the pond slipping, sliding, just playing," Brookelynn said. "So, I thought it's probably a good idea to check on them. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen."
https://i.imgur.com/KZpmt3R.png
As Brookelynn approached the pond, she said she heard ice starting to break. Then she saw Hope fall in followed by Nevadah.
"My friend, she was going out toward the middle, and she went in," 10-year-old Nevadah said. "So, I went out to try and save her but then I fell in, too."
Brookelynn said she used common sense and and knew what to do from watching National Geographic.
"I ran in there flailing around, and I told them, 'You guys got to stand still. You've got to hang on to the edge of the ice. I'll come get you,' and I broke a path through instead of walking out and getting caught in a hole. I knew I had to break a path through to them so I had a clear way to swim them back," Brookelynn said. "When I got to them, they were freaking out a bit still. So, I told the oldest one to grab on to me and I'd hold on to her, and the oldest one grabbed on to the little one. So, it was like a little chain."
Brookelynn said as she swam closer to the bank, her feet went numb.
"I just kept telling myself, 'Keep swimming' and hoping my body listened," Brookelynn said.
The rescue was a success.
"By the time I swam them back, no one was hurt besides a couple cut up hands and some blue toes," Brookelynn said.
Brookelynn walked the girls home then ran to her own house.
"The first thing I saw, she was completely drenched and her boots, the water was sloshing out. Her hands were covered in blood. She was hysterical and could barely talk," said Brenda Pruitt, Brookelynn's mother. "All I could get out of her was, 'They fell through the ice and I had to save them. I had to save them."
Pruitt said it still makes her stomach turn thinking about what Brookelynn and the girls went through, but she's also proud of her daughter.
"It's a proud parent moment for sure to think at her age, she was able to keep it together and save somebody else," Pruitt said.
Brookelynn said she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
"It's inhumane of you not to go save someone. You can't just leave them there," she said.
"She's a hero, and she's amazing," Nevadah said.
https://i.imgur.com/nqUmZF8.png
JACKSONBURG, Ohio — Brookelynn Pruitt gave her horse, Oliver, a lot of extra love Monday afternoon.
"C'mon Olly. Good boy," she said as she called him over to show off his braids.
Brookelynn, 13, was braiding Oliver's mane Friday evening when he started getting anxious.
"I'm looking around like, 'What is he scared about?'" Brookelynn said.
In the distance, Brookelynn saw two young neighbors — Nevadah and Hope — on the frozen pond near her home in Ohio.
"I seen them running around the pond slipping, sliding, just playing," Brookelynn said. "So, I thought it's probably a good idea to check on them. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen."
https://i.imgur.com/KZpmt3R.png
As Brookelynn approached the pond, she said she heard ice starting to break. Then she saw Hope fall in followed by Nevadah.
"My friend, she was going out toward the middle, and she went in," 10-year-old Nevadah said. "So, I went out to try and save her but then I fell in, too."
Brookelynn said she used common sense and and knew what to do from watching National Geographic.
"I ran in there flailing around, and I told them, 'You guys got to stand still. You've got to hang on to the edge of the ice. I'll come get you,' and I broke a path through instead of walking out and getting caught in a hole. I knew I had to break a path through to them so I had a clear way to swim them back," Brookelynn said. "When I got to them, they were freaking out a bit still. So, I told the oldest one to grab on to me and I'd hold on to her, and the oldest one grabbed on to the little one. So, it was like a little chain."
Brookelynn said as she swam closer to the bank, her feet went numb.
"I just kept telling myself, 'Keep swimming' and hoping my body listened," Brookelynn said.
The rescue was a success.
"By the time I swam them back, no one was hurt besides a couple cut up hands and some blue toes," Brookelynn said.
Brookelynn walked the girls home then ran to her own house.
"The first thing I saw, she was completely drenched and her boots, the water was sloshing out. Her hands were covered in blood. She was hysterical and could barely talk," said Brenda Pruitt, Brookelynn's mother. "All I could get out of her was, 'They fell through the ice and I had to save them. I had to save them."
Pruitt said it still makes her stomach turn thinking about what Brookelynn and the girls went through, but she's also proud of her daughter.
"It's a proud parent moment for sure to think at her age, she was able to keep it together and save somebody else," Pruitt said.
Brookelynn said she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
"It's inhumane of you not to go save someone. You can't just leave them there," she said.
"She's a hero, and she's amazing," Nevadah said.