Mom Mourns 3 Sons Who Drowned After Falling into Frozen Pond, Recalls Trying to Save Them as 2 of Their Siblings Watched
Three brothers in Texas drowned after falling through ice on a frozen pond as their mother tried to save them and two of their siblings watched.
According to a news release issued by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred on Monday (January 26) on a private pond outside Bonham, a city about 70 miles north of Dallas.
First responders rushed to the scene after a call about three brothers — aged 6, 8 and 9 — who had fallen in.
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Per the release, the oldest two brothers “were pulled from the water by the first arriving responders and a neighbor” before being rushed to a local hospital.
“The 6-year-old did not resurface but was later recovered after an extensive search of the pond,” the release read.
None of them survived.
Although they were not identified by authorities, family told CBS News that the brothers were Howard, 6, Kaleb, 8, and EJ Doss, 9.
Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, told CBS Texas that she had warned her children to stay off the ice while they were outside playing. However, she said that Howard attempted to skate across the pond before falling in.
His older brothers raced into the water after him in an attempt to save him as her daughter rushed to find their mom.
Hangaman, a mom to six, rushed down to the water, telling FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth that she must have made it there in about 30 seconds. However, she was unable to get the young boys out.
She recalled pulling one son after another out of the water and putting him on the ice to get to safety. However, each time she got one of them out, the ice broke, and they fell back in.
“There was three of them and only one me. That’s what happened. That’s why I couldn’t save them,” she told CBS Texas.
She recalled seeing them in the water, saying, “I know their bodies were already in shock. The water was freezing cold.”
“I tried to fight for my kids’ lives where I had to watch them struggle and drown. And I couldn’t help them,” she said.
Hangaman told FOX 4 that she “knew” her sons “were already gone” once she was pulled to safety.
“I knew that I needed to get myself together for the other two that watched the whole thing,” she said.
Remembering her sons, she said that EJ had dreams of being a “football star,” and Kaleb “was just a soul you would want to be around all the time.”
“And Howard was just … goofy. He liked to make people laugh,” she said of her youngest.
She said that she had no doubt her sons would have attempted to protect each other like that, explaining, “They were mean to each other, but once something happens, they’re right there for each other.”
The mother looked back on her last day with her sons, recalling that she was able to kiss Kaleb but mourning, “I didn’t get to kiss the other ones. Not that day.”
A GoFundMe established for the grieving family has raised more than $63,000 at the time of publishing.