‘Wow, those were my girls’: Iowa teenagers credited with saving two kids who fell through ice

By Laura Terrell

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    WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Two sisters from West Des Moines are being recognized as heroes for their quick thinking after saving two kids who fell through the ice in a pond behind an apartment building.

Fifteen-year-old Jasmine Morris and 17-year-old Jacora Morris were scrolling through TikTok when they happened to look out their third-story window at the right time.

“I immediately screamed, ‘They’re drowning! They’re drowning!’ And then me and my sister, we ran downstairs. The dog chased us. We were falling down the stairs to get back here,” Jasmine said.

“I just stopped what I was doing. I just got up, and I was just running out. I was just in shoes, shorts and a tank top,” Jacora said.

The Morris sisters jumped into the icy water to help the kids.

“I am numb, and those kids, they’ve have been in there longer than me, so they have got to be numb. At some point, they were going to just stop moving. And I didn’t want them to stop moving, so it was just, come on! Get them out. You can get out later, just get them out is all I was thinking,” Jasmine said.

One boy was trapped underneath the ice with only a finger above the surface.

“I grabbed his middle finger and that is how I pulled him up and we got him up there. He was kind of heavy too, honey! I got him though,” Jacora said.

The sisters turned into heroes in seconds.

“You could see the relief and the happiness that he was out of the water and both of them were safe,” Jasmine said.

The rescue happened so quickly, medics didn’t get there until it was over.

“I was amazed. Not many children would drop what they are doing, or adults, and just run out and wade into water up to their shoulders to pull two other kids out,” West Des Moines EMS Division Chief Doug Harms said.

Jasmine and Jacora’s mom, Jaqueline Morris said all those years of swimming lessons paid off.

“I am very proud! I don’t even have the words to say. Wow, those were my girls,” Jaqueline Morris said.

Jasmine and Jacora don’t want praise. They are just overjoyed at the outcome.

“I am just happy they’re ok,” Jasmine said.

So what did the girls learn about themselves through all this?

“That I have quick reaction skills! And when I have a sense to look up and do something, I need to look up,” Jasmine said.

The city of West Des Moines plans to recognize the sisters with a lifesaving award at a later date.

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