The Lower Kuskokwim School District Board of Education has issued a proclamation honoring the heroic act of Joseph Joekay, a high school student, who with selfless courage saved the lives of two children who fell through thin ice.
On February 13, 2019 two young children fell through the thin ice of Brown’s Slough behind the AC Quickstop Store. Joseph Joekay, who was in the area, heard a young lady scream as she started going through the ice. Joekay took off his shoes, socks, and pulled up his sweatpants and made a beeline for the young lady.
He was able to hold her up as he fell into water up to his neck.
Joekay gave the small boy a piggy back ride to safety. All three made it out of the slough and an ambulance came to make sure all of them were okay. Both children seemed fine.
Joekay sustained a web of thin red cuts up to his knees where the ice edges slit though his skin.
The LKSD Board of Education passed Resolution 19-08 to recognize, with respect and gratitude, the heroic act and selfless courage of Joseph “Boya” Joekay in the act of saving the lives of two children.
“Joseph was a hero on February 13, 2019 as he responded without hesitation to save two young children’s lives,” says the Board’s resolution, which was passed on April 18th, 2019 and signed by LKSD Board President Clarence Daniel and LKSD Superintendent Dan Walker.
