Neighbors used hoses and ropes to rescue four children who fell through thin ice into a Roxborough park pond, Colorado firefighters say. A 14-year-old boy died later.
West Metro Fire Rescue
A 14-year-old boy who died after being pulled from an icy Colorado lake was trying to save three friends who had dived through thin ice, his friends and family said.
“This is a handsome young man who was ready put your life at risk for others, for the betterment of others,” Philip Holland, pastor of Valley View Christian Church, said during a vigil Friday, Nov. 25, for Dylan Wittenburg, according to KDVR.
“He gave himself not because he would live, but because they would live,” Holland said, according to the publication.
Dylan and three other teenagers fell through the thin ice at Crystal Lake Park in Roxborough Park around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22, McClatchy News reports.
Alerted by their screams, neighbors rushed to help with extension cords, hoses and ropes, according to West Metro Fire Rescue.
Three teenagers were pulled from the freezing lake, but a team of divers had to save Dylan.
He was placed for life support and turned 14 on Wednesday, November 23rd. Dylan died the next day, according to KCNC.
“He lit up the room literally as he walked through the room,” Lynette Sherrock said at the lakeside vigil, KUSA reported.
Sherock, Dylan’s aunt, told KDVR that he was “the best hugger” and was “always, always, always happy.”
“He helped me through so much. Thick and thin,” friend McKayla Wedick said, according to KCNC. “He was one of the most respected people; hardworking, determined.”
Friends and family said at the vigil that Dylan drowned while trying to help his friends out of the icy water, news outlets reported.
Roxborough Park is a community of 9,000 people about 25 miles south of Denver.
