BOCA RATON, Fla. – A father and his teenage son are being hailed as heroes for saving a young child’s life.
That boy was riding in a car when it suddenly ended up in a canal.
The car a pair of teens were traveling in veered off the roadway and took a part of a guardrail down before plunging into a Boca Raton canal.
14-year-old Samuel Shapshal and his father saw the commotion and jumped in to help, pulling a boy to safety.
“The only thing that was going through my head was getting the kid out of there alive,” said Samuel.
It happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sunday off Clint Moore Road.
Samuel and his family were coming home from an early dinner and saw a guardrail smashed and another teen crying for help.
“It was pretty scary, I didn’t think about it at the time,” Samuel said. “There was no time to call 911 or do anything.”
Samuel’s father Yuri thought of his own children and immediately jumped in to help, his son right by his side.
“I immediately tried to get the back door open, luckily it was unlocked and I was able to force it open and my son just reached in and grabbed the child and hugged him and pulled him out of the car to safety,” Yuri explained.
The Shapshal family is thankful the teenage victim is okay and that they were at the right place at the right time.
“The look on his face and the look on everyone else’s face was priceless,” said Samuel. “Seeing that, it paid off what we did, me and my dad.”
Added Yuri: “I’m so proud of my 14-year son, I don’t know many 14-year-olds that would jump in and risk their life to save somebody elses.”
Samuel said he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.
As far as the victim, authorities said he didn’t need any type of medical treatment following this crash.