Second Boy Hospitalized After Falling Into Icy Pond Recovering

LANSDOWNE, Md. (WJZ) -- One boy is dead and another remains in the hospital after falling through an icy Lansdowne pond more than a week ago. Now the family of the boy who survived is speaking out.

Meghan McCorkell has more.

Flowers have been left beside the pond after one boy died after falling through the ice and another remains hospitalized.

For more than a week, Lincola Benjamin has held vigil by her son's bedside.

"I was sick to my stomach to see my son like this," Benjamin said.

!2-year-old Omar and his eight-year-old brother, Junior, were walking on an icy pond with two friends when all four of them fell through the ice.

Omar's brother managed to pull himself and another boy out but Omar was trapped in the water.

"When they got Omar out of the water, he wasn't breathing or anything," Benjamin said.

A bystander jumped in and rescued him---but they couldn't find his friend, Ky'ron Aikens. It took rescue crews over an hour to find the boy under the ice. He later died in the hospital.

With several weeks of winter left, the incident has other local fire crews also training for potential ice rescues.

Wednesday, the Baltimore City Fire Special Operations walked on the ice but Chief James Wallace warns bystanders to never go in after someone falls through.

"If you can reach them from shore, if you can safely do it, if you have something you can extend out to them, that's a viable option," he said.

Benjamin says she's thankful bystanders acted fast to save her son.

"The man that got my son, I wish I could meet him and tell him thank you," she said.

She says Omar is starting to make a miraculous recovery. She hasn't yet told him his friend didn't survive.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family of Kyron Aikens pay for funeral expenses. To donate, click here.