Mom Hears Her Son's Cries for Help and Rushes to Pull His Friend from Icy Pond, Only to Fall in Herself
The woman and the boy's father helped to save the child, however both fell into the icy water during the rescue
Sam Gillette
Tue, February 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM UTC
3 min read
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A boy fell through an icy retention pond in Virginia on Feb. 1, prompting a neighbor and the boy's dad to work together to rescue him
Both adults also fell in, but they were able to get out of the frigid water
The rescue comes a year after a 12-year-old boy's body was found in a pond in the same region
A woman helped save a child who fell into an icy pond in southeastern Virginia, just a year after a 12-year-old’s body was recovered from a pond in the same region.
On the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 1, first responders rushed to an apartment complex off Sellger Drive in Norfolk following reports that a child had fallen into a retention pond, NBC affiliate WAVY and CBS affiliate WTVR reported.
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A nearby mom, identified as Ms. White, helped ensure the accident didn’t become a tragedy. The woman recalled hearing her son cry for help because his friend had fallen into the pond, and she rushed to assist, according to WAVY.
“So once I get out here, I see the little boy in the opening right there, in that hole right there,” White told the outlet during the on-air interview, pointing out a hole in the ice. “He’s sitting up there with his arms on the ice, just kind of floating and crying.”
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As White edged closer to the pond, she fell in after stepping onto a pipe.
“I started on the side to try to work all the way around to the middle, … and I fell,” she said. “So once I fell in right there, that’s when I realized like, ‘Okay, let me try other measures before I get any further and break more of the ice.’ ”
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The mom didn’t want to break the ice while the child was sitting up.
By that time, the boy’s father was also running over to assist. White warned the man that the ice was thin, and he was able to walk across it for about a minute before he fell in as well, WAVY reported.
“So at this point, [his] dad was able to get over to the front, and [he] grabbed him,” the woman told the outlet. “And he carried him over to me and passed him off to me.”
The trio managed to get out of the retention pond, and White had her son get a blanket for his friend while they waited for first responders to arrive, according to WAVY. The young boy was subsequently transferred to the hospital.
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Norfolk Fire-Rescue, the responding agency, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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The brave rescue comes a year after the body of 12-year-old Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo was recovered from a pond at an apartment complex in Virginia Beach on Jan. 27, 2025, three days after he was reported missing, PEOPLE previously reported. Officials later determined that the child died from accidental drowning, CBS affiliate WTKR reported.
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