SHELBY TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - Two small children are safe after a scary sledding moment in Shelby Township.
It started out like any other day: 13-year-old Cayden was sledding with his 2-year-old brother Bobby and 4-year-old sister Cora. But the sled went farther than it ever did before and slid onto a pond.
"They were at the top of the hill and he typically gives them a push down," their mother, Christina Haupt, told WWJ's Zach Clark. "He realized that they were going way too fast and they weren't stopping so he started booking it to them and as he ran, the ice broke through and he fell in. So he let go of the sled and the sled just kept sliding."
Haupt says the kids were initially supposed to be building a snowman, not sledding -- which is why neither she nor her husband was out with them.
"It was terrifying. My first instinct was, 'Get to them,'" she said. "My 2-year-old doesn't understand what's going on. His 4-year-old sister did a really great job of listening to directions."
Haupt says Shelby Township first responders acted as heroes, and so did her 13-year old son.
"He knew to come get us right away. Cayden is a very bright young man. He has taken them sledding many times and this was just a different day," she said. "And I can't thank the first responders enough for getting here so quickly. They did such an amazing job, all of them."