The schoolboy heroes

Lads catch 8-yr-old in makeshift net as he falls off a ski lift

FIVE schoolboys caught a terrified eight-year-old in a makeshift safety net after he dropped from a ski lift.

Joshua Ravensbergen, 12, and his friends were on the slopes below when the boy slipped from his seat and his dad caught him by the wrist.

He said the lift kept going higher and higher until it was too late for the boy to jump to safety.

Joshua said they feared he would be hurt if they did not do some- thing to help as adults stood by, so they grabbed the orange fencing and some padding from a pillar and rushed beneath the chairlift.

When the boy could no longer hold on, he let himself fall and was safely caught by the boys, who were about 20ft below.

Joshua said: “People were there but were just standing looking at the kid, not knowing what to do.”

The drama was caught on video at Grouse Mountain near Vancouver, Canada.

Joshua’s friend Gabriel Nielson said it took some time to convince the boy to kick off his skis and let go of his father.

Gabriel said: “At one point, we were just like, ‘OK, you just need to trust us, you just need to drop’.”

The child was on the chairlift with his parents and his threeyear-old sister, who the father was also trying to hang on to while struggling to cling to his son.

A Grouse Mountain Resorts spokeswoman said the boy was uninjured but went to hospital as a precautionary measure.

PANIC Dad clings to boy after he slips off lift seat SAFE Group check on boy SAVIOURS Gabriel, right, and pal Ethan Harvey FALL Boy drops as lads hold fence out to catch him