David Chang

Boys Fall Through Frozen Pond in Bucks County

Collin Orr shivered as he watched Super Bowl 50 with his parents Sunday night. The 12-year-old boy is recovering from hypothermia but still alive after he and two of his friends fell through a frozen pond in Bucks County.

"I kind of felt like I was going to die," Orr said. "It was so, so, so, so, so cold. Like, you couldn't even imagine how cold it was."

Orr and two of his friends were walking on a frozen pond off of Pipers Place in Chalfont, New Britain Township around 2 p.m. Sunday. Suddenly the thin ice cracked and the boys fell into the dangerously cold water.

"When it broke I was the first one to fall in," Orr said.

Orr managed to pull himself onto a metal drain. One of his friends who couldn't swim was quickly going under however. Orr jumped back into the frigid water to try and rescue him.

"He was drowning at that point," Orr said. "I hopped back in and I got him and I like pulled him up onto the drain."

David Bennett was sitting on his porch nearby when he heard the boys screaming. He and other neighbors ran to help.

"I got over and just threw everything out of my pockets and jumped in to try to get to them," Bennett said. "I got an extension cord or a rope so we were able to swing it out to them."

The witnesses were able to save one of the boys. The other two were picked up by a responding rescue boat.

The three boys were taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia. They were back home Sunday evening. For Orr, the close call served as a valuable lesson.

"Do not ever, ever go on a pond that is frozen," Orr said. "You're going to probably regret it." 

A sign posted near the pond warns residents not to play on the pond.

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