Five people were electrocuted while swimming in a backyard pool – as a teenage boy among them heroically managed to save them all.
A family and one young friend were enjoying the water at the Indiana home on Sunday afternoon when ‘they felt a vibration in the water, and the dad yelled to shut the sump pump off’, Logansport police Chief Travis Yike told FOX59.
Two parents, two of their children and one of the kids’ friends were shocked, police said. Two of the victims were unresponsive when cops arrived at the home on the 2600 block of High Street in Logansport shortly after 2.30pm.
All five, including the juveniles who were not over age 16, were rushed to a nearby hospital in serious but stable condition.
Police found a wire on a pump near the ladder of the pool was pinched, and that the protective cover was broken in that section. It was the exposed wire that electrocuted them.
The five survived the freak incident thanks to a teen boy who ‘was also injured but took it upon himself once the power was shut off to jump out and recognize what was going on and save his dad and his sister and his sister’s friends lives’, the police chief said.
‘I do want to give accolades to that young man that was in the pool when this happened,’ Yike said.
‘If it wasn’t for the heroic acts of a 16-year-old juvenile that was involved in this, it may have turned out a lot different.’
The hero served as a lifeguard in the community, according to neighbors.
As of Monday evening, one of the juveniles was still hospitalized. All the victims are expected to survive.
There were no indications that the incident was criminal.
‘It’s an unfortunate accident,’ Yike said, ‘But fortunately everyone is doing OK.’
The group were shocked just a week after a teenage Ohio girl was electrocuted to death after stepping into her family’s wet camper with bare feet. Investigators said the camper was not plugged in and had no burn marks, leaving her family desperate for answers.
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