14-year-old boy pulls trapped kid from car

BOCA RATON — It looked like steam coming off a canal, but Yury Shapshal and his son discovered something more urgent as they got closer.

It was a car overturned in the canal, with a young person trapped inside. Another person on the bank, about 17 years old, was screaming.

Shapshal and 14-year-old son, Sam, jumped in. Shapshal pried one of the car doors open as his son dove into the car and pulled out a boy who appeared to be about Sam’s age.

The two boys from the car, both unharmed, hugged Sam and thanked him. “They kept calling me a hero,” Sam said. “And my dad. They kept coming up to me and saying that.”

Fire rescue officials have not released the identity of the boys in the car, citing medical privacy laws. Neither was taken to a hospital. All four people were standing on the bank, along with a crowd of bystanders, by the time authorities arrived.

A Palm Beach Sheriff ’s Office spokeswoman did not respond to questions about how the car wound up in the canal near the Shapshal ls’ home in West Boca.

Yury Shapshal, 44, said he was driving home to the Oaks of Boca Raton with his three kids after lunch on Sunday when they came upon the crash.

“It was almost entirely submerged in the water,” Shapshal said. “It was obvious there was a child

stuck in the car and he was screaming his name. I had three in the car of my own, so that kind of hit me really hard, knowing there’s a child trapped in the car.”

The crowd on shore looked panicked and unsure what to do. A big portion of the guardrail lay in the roadway.

“I decided to jump in and my son saw me go in the water and he went right behind me and I’m very proud of him for doing that,” he said. “That’s not what most 14-year-olds would do, I would imagine.”

Sam said: “I didn’t really think about it. I just went.”

Yury Shapshal said he received a call from the rescued boys Monday. The trapped teen “said he was

drowning and it was just a matter of seconds,” Shapshal said.

State Rep. Kelly Skidmore heard about the rescue and thinks the father-son team deserves accolades. She said she intends to recognize them Thursday in the Florida House of Representatives.

Shapshal said he had

no choice but to act. “As a parent of three children, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I just stood by and waited for help.”

COURTESY PHOTOS Yury Shapshal, 44, and his 14-year-old son, Sam,jumped into a West Boca Raton canal when they saw this overturned car. The elder Shapshal pried one of the car’s doors open as Sam jumped inside and pulled another boy to safety.

Yury Shapshal and his 14-year-old son, Sam.