It barely weighed a pound. Frightened. Hungry. Lost. That was what two young heroes found earlier this month when a kitten got caught in a storm drain on South Sixth Street in Ironton.

An anonymous call to the Ironton Police Department alerted officers to the animal’s plight close to 9 p.m. one summer night.

As the police arrived on the scene with the goal of trying to coax the scared kitten out of the drain, the rescue efforts became a neighborhood affair, with John Baker and John David Baker first on the scene taking off the drain lids.

An officer tried to get into the storm drain while his partner was holding him, but the man was just too big for the job.

Fortunately, for the rescuers, two young teens stopped by wondering what was going on. Those two students were 14-year-old Dreyden Osborne and 13-year-old Nelson Roller.

The youth went into the drain and with a long tape measure coaxed the small animal from one side of the drain to the other. It was an experience the boys thought was both fun and scary.

But they were both happy to have stepped in to help save the innocent life.

This week, the Ironton Police Department showed its appreciation by honoring the two teens with special certificates in a ceremony at the city building.

These two have given an example of how we all should act when faced with a situation that needs special attention.