‘Unimaginable:’ Three young North Texas brothers die after falling into icy pond
Three elementary school students, all brothers, died after falling through ice into a pond in Bonham during this week’s winter storm, according to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Game Wardens.
The boys’ mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, identified them to KDFW-TV as 6-year-old Howard, 8-year-old Kaleb and 9-year-old EJ.
Howard went underwater first, and his two older brothers jumped in after him to try to help him, Hangaman said. At that point, Hangaman jumped into the freezing water as well.
“I started running toward the pond and I jumped in. I tried to save them while also trying to keep myself alive,” Hangaman told KDFW. “As soon as I jumped in, I locked up. I couldn’t do anything.”
Hangaman herself had to be pulled from the water by a neighbor, she said, and an area high school football coach also joined in the rescue efforts after hearing someone calling for help.
“It was one of me and three of them, and they all needed me at one time,” Hangaman said. “I couldn’t save them.”
The accident occurred on Monday. Kaleb and EJ were pulled from the pond by the first arriving responders and rushed to the hospital, where they later died, according to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office. Howard never resurfaced, and his body was found after an extensive search of the pond, authorities said.
The football coach, John Ramsey, was nearby helping a neighbor at the time, he said in a statement.
“I was simply close enough to help in a moment of crisis, doing what I hope anyone would do for someone in need,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey is also the athletic director for the Bonham Independent School District.
“We are devastated by this unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family, friends, and all who knew and loved these children,” Bonham ISD superintendent Lance Hamlin said in a letter to families Monday.
The district is working to provide support to the family, and counselors will be available for students or staff who need someone to talk to, Hamlin wrote.
“My oldest one, EJ, he didn’t care about nothing but football and getting his haircut,” Hangaman told KDFW. “Kaleb’s personality was out of this world; he was the sweetest boy I ever met, and Howard ... he was just goofy, he would liven the party.”
At least four children died in North Texas over the course of Winter Storm Fern: In addition to the brothers, 16-year-old Elizabeth Angle was killed in a sledding accident in Frisco on Sunday. That accident also left another 16-year-old girl hospitalized in critical condition.
A GoFundMe page is collecting donations for Hangaman’s family.
