Older generations often complain about teenagers and their “selfish” attitudes, giving young people a bad reputation. The two teenagers in this story, however, show how selfless young people can really be!
Dalaurence Holland, 15, and Zech Krinjnic, 13, were sitting on the latter’s porch in Mount Juliet, Tennessee one night when something disturbing caught their eyes.
It was around 10:15pm, and neither of their parents were around. Suddenly, they were stunned to see someone emerge from the bushes who looked very out of place.
“We were sitting on my porch up there, and then we were talking about clowns and stuff,” Zech recalled. “And then, all of a sudden, we see this thing out in the middle of the road.”
Confused, the boys decided to investigate.
“I don’t know,” Dalaurence said. “I guess I’m just a teenager and thought, ‘Let’s do something stupid and chase it and see what it is.’ When I saw it, I thought it was a fox or some other kind of animal. I didn’t want anything to end up dead.”
It was only when the boys got closer to the creature that they realized it was not an animal at all, but actually a 3 year-old girl who was heading right for a busy highway!
The toddler was all alone, and making things even worse, a truck was heading right for her.
“I saw headlights coming up the hill,” Dalaurence said. “I was like, ‘There’s a truck. That’s a little girl. I’m going to grab it.”
Both boys ran for the girl, but Dalaurence reached her first and put his life on the line to snatch the girl and pull her out of the way right before the truck could hit her.
“Everything in my mind just dropped,” Dalaurence said. “My mind went clear, and I was focused on getting the kid.”
“A truck was coming up the hill, and right before it would have hit her, he scooped her up and ran out into the middle of both roads,” Zech recalled. “We just jumped out in front of the truck. We didn’t look both ways. We just jumped.”
Thanks to Zech and Dalaurence’s bravery, the little girl’s life was saved! It remains unclear why exactly the 3 year-old was out alone at night, and police have been questioning her parents to learn more.
Meanwhile, Zech and Dalaurence have been hailed as heroes, and Mount Juliet officials have even given them keys to the city!
Dalaurence’s grandmother, Lisa Coffman, said that she could not be more proud of both boys.
“They’re good boys, and they deserve to be recognized,” she said.
Dalaurence hopes that this good deed will show the world the positive side of American teenagers.
“It’s good for us to be known for the good things,” Dalaurence concluded. “It’s good for us good kids to be recognized, too.”