Survivor, 10, Speaks About Ice Safety He Was Unconscious For 12 Days After Accident In Which His Friend Died

Ten-year-old Justin Hicks doesn’t remember falling through an ice-covered pond, being pulled unconscious from the frigid water or spending nearly two weeks in a coma.

Still, he bravely took the stage and struggled to answer questions from several hundred grade-schoolers who wanted to know what it was like to have a friend die.

He didn’t say much, but somehow his courage came through.

Justin and Christopher Martini, 7, ventured onto Warwick’s Spring Green Pond on Dec. 10 when they plunged through the ice. Christopher’s brother, Thomas, 9, tried to rescue them but also fell in.

A fourth friend ran for help. The three boys were unconscious when rescuers pulled them out. Christopher died eight days later; Thomas continues rehabilitation at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

“It was the worst possible situation,” one of the rescuers, firefighter Charles Donilon, told the students as part of an ice safety lecture inspired by the accident.

Donilon said there was a hole in the ice and no sign of life, meaning divers had to search for bodies in murky, icy water. They found Thomas first, then Justin, then Christopher.

“Their hearts had stopped beating and they weren’t breathing,” Donilon told the wide-eyed children. “They really were, well, dead.”

Justin remained unconscious for 12 days, but slowly showed signs of improvement. He began talking two weeks after the accident. He went home last week, and is continuing therapy as an outpatient.

“There were little sentences at first, then he started demanding things, like ‘Get me a glass of water,”’ said his mother, Colleen Green, chuckling. “That’s when I knew he was back.”

Green, grateful for her son’s remarkably fast recovery but still pained by Christopher’s death, decided even before Justin came home that they should promote ice safety among children.

Donilon said he was so affected by the experience, that he also decided to go to local schools to warn youngsters about the danger of playing on ice-covered waters. At Green’s suggestion, Justin joined him.

“The kids can relate to one of their peers,” Donilon said.

Justin, a thin, soft-spoken boy who still walks haltingly and is working to regain full use of his hands and voice, nodded, shrugged or gave one-word answers to most queries.

The fifth-grader said he hopes to return to school next month, but knows that means dealing with the most difficult question of his whole ordeal: the death of his friend.

“That’s tough,” he whispered.