Two boys trapped in a snow pile for about seven hours after a plow buried them could hear their worried family's cries but couldn't respond loudly enough to be heard, they said Friday. Police credited an air pocket with saving their lives.
The two cousins, 11-year-old Elijah Martinez and 9-year-old Jason Rivera, were building a snow fort Wednesday night across the street from Elijah's apartment in Newburgh when a plow operator clearing a parking lot unknowingly pushed snow over them.
Cousins Elijah "Papito" Martinez, 11, and Jason "J.J." Rivera, 9, were outside building a snow fort near Elijah's house on Wednesday night when a plow operator clearing a parking lot unknowingly pushed snow over them. Early Thursday, a police officer searching for them saw a shovel half buried, started to dig and then saw a small boot. Rescuers joined in, some digging with their bare hands.
The boys said Friday that they did everything they could to break free, CBS New York station WCBS-TV reports.
"I was punching everything," said Elijah. "I was moving my shoulders, banging my head, moving everything so I could get more space."
"He had more space than me; I couldn't really move," said Jason. "If I could've sat up, I could've got my legs out, and we could've at least made more space, but there was a big block of ice on my chest, so I couldn't move."
"I felt so tired. It didn't feel real that they were coming to get us," Elijah said at a news conference at the hospital where the boys were recovering.
"The cops were coming to all the neighbors' houses. They were knocking on doors. They were ringing bells asking for shovels, asking for help," she said. "The neighbors came out. Everyone tried to join in the search for the little boys."
At about 2 a.m., Officer Brandon Rola spotted footprints that were disappearing as more snow fell. Then he saw a shovel.
"I felt led to dig," he said.
Rescuers saw the sole of a child's boot and then motion, digging faster as residents joined in the rescue, some with their bare hands in the pile of packed, wet snow.
"When I first hit the boot, you just try and stay positive and hopeful," Rola said. "You get that ray of hope and everybody just started working together trying to get these kids out. And as the snow kept coming come off, you started to see more and more movement and then you started to hear the voices and it was a very great feeling."
Police said there's no way the snow plow driver could have seen them, WCBS-TV reports.
Witnesses said the police who pulled them out of the snowbank got a round of applause.
One of the boys was released from the hospital with no major injuries. His cousin still remains under observation, but his mother posted on Facebook that he is doing well.
The cousins appeared healthy Friday; Jason dressed in plaid pajamas and Elijah still wearing his snow pants and a black sweatshirt with skulls. They said they wanted to eat and go to Disney World when they got home from the hospital, but Jason's mother said she wasn't sure when they would be discharged.
