The American Red Cross of the Virgin Islands honored two young heroes at an event held Friday on St. Thomas. Twin brothers, Kruz and Stefon Wilson, were presented with the Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action two years after the young kayakers dove into the waters of Magens Bay and saved a drowning man.
Parents and grandparents joined the ceremony at the Red Cross office in Estate Thomas. The brothers — now 9 years old — accepted their certificates and the gift of an all-expenses-paid family excursion to St. Croix.
Heroic acts by the Wilson twins marked the second time since 2023 that St. Thomas’ youth swung into action to save lives. Two students from Charlotte Amalie High School dove into Charlotte Amalie Harbor in March 2023 to rescue the motorist and passenger of a vehicle that veered off Veteran’s Drive and fell over the concrete bulkhead.
“Kruz and Stephan Wilson — two young brothers — demonstrated bravery when they rescued an about-to-be-drowning man two years ago at Magens Bay Beach, and of course St. Thomas rescue came and applied the necessary safety tactics and helped revive this person. And that, of course, was the result of the efforts of these two young men who were 7 years old — that’s a very young age — and helped to save him,” said Sen. Angel Bolques, the lawmaker who helped bring the children’s act to the attention of officials at Red Cross National headquarters.
“They jumped right into action, and they swam, and they went and provided lifesaving assistance to this individual,” said St. Thomas Rescue spokesman Chris Watson shortly after the 2024 incident. “It is genuinely something heroic.”
With help from his staff, the lawmaker sought contributions from local businesses to create a staycation package for the Wilson family. “We got a free flight over for the entire family — mom, dad and the children — three nights at the Buccaneer; jet car in Frederiksted … during the Red Cross ceremony I found out dad and the children had never been to St. Croix … so that was the first time in their entire lives they had ever been to St. Croix,” the senator said.
The Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action recognizes lifesaving actions by individuals taken in an emergency to save or sustain lives.
