Two New York boys, who became lodged under a snow pile for hours, described how they were able to survive their terrifying ordeal.
The Associated Press reported that on Friday, cousins Elijah Martinez, 11, and Jason Rivera, 9, said they could hear their family and rescuers workers calling for them while they were trapped. The boys said they tried to respond back, but their desperate cries were not loud enough to be heard.
On Wednesday evening, the children were building a snow fort in a parking lot across the street from Elijah's home in Newburgh. At the same time a snowplow was clearing the lot, didn’t see the boys and dumped a pile of snow onto them. They then became buried under about 5 feet of snow.
The Daily Mail noted that the children were able to breathe and stay alive because of an air pocket and not allowing one another to fall asleep.
“We motivated each other to not go to sleep, keep yelling, keep moving our bodies, trying to break out,” Elijah said during a news conference. “Cause I knew if we would've fallen asleep ...we probably wouldn't have woke up because we would be so cold, frozen probably.”
Around 2 a.m. Thursday morning, an officer assisting in a search for the boys saw a shovel sticking out of the snow pile as well as a child’s boot. The officer, along with several people searching for the children, began frantically digging through the snow.
The two cousins were conscious when they were freed and taken to a local hospital. Their parents said they are both in good condition.