ST. THOMAS – The seven-year-old twin brothers who saved a drowning man at Magens Bay earlier this month were honored by St. Thomas Rescue on Sunday.
Kruz and Stefon Wilson both received the Chief Officer’s Certificate of Commendation, the highest award that St. Thomas Rescue bestows on members of the public.
Chris Watson, the public information officer for St. Thomas Rescue, presented the twins with the certificates at Magens Bay, as family and friends looked on.
“They jumped right into action, and they swam, and they went and provided lifesaving assistance to this individual,” Watson said. “It is genuinely something heroic. Not a lot of grown adults would be in the position that they would be willing to do something like that. So, the fact that two seven-year-old boys have done that is exemplary. It’s outstanding.”
The twin boys were out kayaking on the far-right side of Magens Bay on August 11 when a man in a nearby boat went overboard and was unable to stay above the surface. Stefon said he saw the man under water, and heard yelling for help, so he and his brother, Kruz, paddled their kayaks over to the man. Kruz then got out of his kayak and gave it to the man to keep him afloat.
“So Kruz gave him the kayak, and he put the man on,” Stefon said. “And then I put Kruz on my kayak.”
The boys, who said they spend almost every Sunday at the beach with their family, had just received the kayaks in June, as birthday presents from their great-grandfather.
Kemel Wilson, the twins’ father, watched as his sons received their certificates and said he was extremely proud of his sons.
“I had them in the water from really small, like, probably when they shouldn’t be in the water, I had them in the water,” Wilson said jokingly. “I’m a captain, I boat. I am on the water almost all the time. They’re with me. So, I think that that probably came, like, second nature to them.”
Andrea Penn, the twins’ great-aunt, was at the beach with them that day and said she was amazed by their actions.
“Normally the adults are the ones supposed to have the eyes,” Penn said. “These kids were the ones with the eyes that day.”
After Sunday’s brief ceremony, Kruz and Stefon returned to playing in the water on their kayaks. The twins said they plan to hang their certificates above their beds.
