Five people were electrocuted in a freak accident at a backyard pool in Indiana Sunday afternoon, including two young girls and a teenage boy who is being hailed as a hero for saving the others, police said.
A married couple, their two kids — a 16-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter — and the girl’s friend were all zapped while taking a dip in the family’s pool as they tried to stay cool on a hot summer day, Logansport police said.
The scary episode began at around 2:30 p.m. when the group felt a “vibration” in the pool, causing the dad to call for someone to shut off the sump pump, Logansport Police Chief Travis Yike told Fox 59.
All five were shocked by the electrified water — to varying degrees — before the sump pump was flipped off.
At least two of the victims weren’t responsive when authorities first arrived, police said.
Everyone was rushed to the hospital with various injuries but all are expected to survive in part thanks to the teen son who works as a local lifeguard and reportedly pulled out his injured family members and his sister’s friend from the pool.
“I do want to give accolades to that young man that was in the pool when this happened,” Yike told the local Fox station. “And 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.
“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.”
Investigators determined the electric shock was caused by a wire on the pool pump that was pinched by the pool’s ladder, which broke its protective cover and exposed the wire to the water, police said.
“It’s an unfortunate accident but fortunately everyone is doing OK,” Yike told Fox 59.