点赞华裔少年 勇救落水儿童

来源: 作者: BINGHUI HUANG 点击: 发布时间:2020-08-10 16:02:56
      8月7日星期四下午,席卷美东的热带飓风刚刚刮过Bethelehem 这个宾州小镇,16岁的华裔少年凯文( Kevin Cornklin) 和妈妈一起去镇上公园散步。经过一场暴风雨,本来平静的小溪已经爆涨了,这时他们看见水里有个小男孩,穿着游泳裤,戴着潜水镜在玩水,那孩子的妈妈也在不远处。突然凯文妈妈看不见了那孩子,就问边上那妈妈,那妈妈这才发觉孩子不见了,慌得大声喊叫。这时凯文还在马路的另一边,妈妈喊他快跑过去看看,一看那里是个三四米宽的大坑,里面积满了水,却很浑浊看不清里面有没有孩子。妈妈对凯文说你会潜水的,下去搜搜。凯文毫不犹豫跳下水去,但没发现水里有孩子,这里是一个把溪水通过公路的涵洞,水流得很急,估计是孩子被卷进涵洞里冲走了,洞口也就半米大的口径,身高一米八多的大小伙子,毫不犹豫就钻进洞里找孩子去了。
 

 
      在上面的妈妈们被吓死了,一下子两个孩子都不见了,凯文妈真后悔自己没能拉住儿子,现在只能喊人求救。很快过路的停下车赶来相救,其中一部工程车还有架梯子,很快那小孩从水洞的另一头被水流冲了出来,大家让他别跑,大人们下水去把他抱了上来。这时才听到凯文的呼唤声,"孩子,你在哪里?",原来凯文被水冲到了更远的地方,纯朴的少年还一心在想着救人。那是一个长长的斜坡,工程队的人把长梯放下去让凯文爬上来,妈妈才如释重负。凯文全身湿透,这时才想起了口袋里新买的苹果手机没来得及拿出来,后来拿去手机店他们说已经完全损坏了。这时本地警察和消防车也都来了,为了安全起见,两孩子被送去医院检查,两人都没大事,凯文手上扭伤了,头上碰了个大包,背上腿上都有不少擦伤,在医院里观察了三小时后医生说没事了,只是至今还不知道那个孩子姓名。
 

 
      平安回到家里后,凯文妈妈却越想越后怕,当时没有多想,急着让凯文下水去找人救人,却一点也没有想到这也是把自己的孩子置于危险之地。妈妈一夜未眠,第二天一早又来到了出事的地点,却发现了公园管理员守在那里,因为他们也是第一次发现,这个涵洞也会出现这么危险的事情,管理员想今天先守着把来这里玩的孩子劝走,再和镇上的管理层讨论长久措施。
 

 
      凯文是中美联姻的后代,母亲郭强来自东北,爸爸是美国白人,退伍军人,不幸却于2018年因车祸去世,留下凯文和母亲相依为命,为此妈妈不得不更换可以灵活上班的工作。凯文从18个月就已经被诊断为自闭症了,地处宾州中部也没有沿海大城市里那么多的自闭症干预服务,妈妈就抓住任何机会,无论是体育的还是社交的,有机会就让凯文去尝试,绝大部分都没有结果,只有两个爱好被凯文长期坚持下来了,一个是游泳,他从7,8岁开始学游泳,一直到现在参加学校的游泳队,这也是当时妈妈让他潜水的原因,知道他游泳好有这个能力,另一个是吹黑管,这也让凯文能加入到他中学的学生管弦乐团,那个乐队在美东非常有名,常常被邀请到各地参加表演,能加入到乐队的学生们,都必须首先保障自己的学习成绩优良学校才会容许你参加,所以里面很多的好学生,这也成了凯文的动力,现在他是即将进入高三(11年级),他准备选几门Honor 的课,为自己将来能读大学而努力。
 
      在这乱纷纷人心惶惶的当世,感谢凯文像一股清风吹进了人们的心灵,无论你认识不认识他,都请你为他祝福吧。


 
Teenager dives in to rescue boy sucked into Bethlehem Township drain pipe during Tropical Storm Isaias flooding
 
 
When 16-year-old Kevin Conklin saw a young boy who was playing in deep rain water get sucked into a drain pipe under a Bethlehem Township road Tuesday, he dove in.
“I didn’t know how to react, so I went after him in the hole,” said the Liberty High School student, who didn’t give a thought to the new iPhone that was in his pocket at the time.
His mother, Qiang Conklin, immediately regretted not pulling her son back. Like the young boy, Kevin also disappeared into the pipe under Farmersville Road at Bethlehem Township Municipal Park.
“In that moment, I felt worried I had lost him,” she said Thursday. When he came through the other side, she was amazed by his bravery and selflessness.
“It makes me want to cry,” she said.
 
The accident happened just after the worst of Tropical Storm     Isaias had passed through the region, flooding roads, homes and businesses. One Lehigh Valley woman, Yesenia Then, died after her car was swept away by the flood as she was driving through Upper Saucon Township on her way home to Allentown. The storm trapped people in cars and buildings throughout the Lehigh Valley and caused power outages for many more.
Kevin and his mom were taking a walk just as the rain stopped in the afternoon when they encountered a young boy playing in the water in his swim trunks and goggles.
As Kevin passed through the drain pipe, he remembers he couldn’t see anything for a few seconds and then he was on the other side.
“I was trying to find the kid, so I was calling out for him,” he said. Luckily, as both boys passed through the drain pipe, multiple people stopped to help, including a man who had a ladder.
He helped the younger boy up and then Kevin, who was completely soaked and missing a shoe by the time he got up to the road above the drain pipe, said police Chief Dan Pancoast.
 
By the time Bethlehem Township police arrived, both boys had been rescued, Pancoast said.
“The actions of the 16-year-old were heroic,” he said. “He is to be commended for putting himself in danger.”
While the boys were not seriously hurt, ambulances took them to hospitals, Conklin said. Kevin suffered some scratches from the drain pipe, but is otherwise doing well. He has yet to meet the little boy he tried to save and doesn’t know his name.
 
Life hasn’t been easy for the mother and son.
Conklin has raised Kevin as a single mom even since her husband died in a car accident in 2018. She’s worked jobs with flexible hours to care for him.
Conklin was so shaken by the incident that she returned to the spot the next day, when the water had drained, to look at the pipe. She worries that other children will get hurt and wants parents to know it’s not safe to swim in the park.
Township Manager Doug Bruce said he’ll look into the issue, but he’d never heard of such a drain pipe accident prior to Tuesday.
“Overnight, I didn’t sleep,” Conklin said. “...Why did I let my son jump in?”
When Kevin emerged, Conklin filmed him with her phone as he stood looked stunned and soaking wet, wanting to remember the moments after his heroic feat.
Binghui Huang can be reached at 610-820-6745 or Bhuang@mcall.com.
 
(责任编辑: BINGHUI HUANG)

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