“I didn’t know what hit me,’’ Coney said.

Though he was not severely injured, Coney decided to stop hanging out with certain friends because he could have lost his life because of those friends.

“I will be careful of the friends I have and just hang out with the ones who only want the best for me,’’ he said.

Coney comes from a family of seven; he has two brothers, Sean Becton and Chris Coney, and two sisters, Amira and Imani Brown. His parents are Alisha Brown and Alfred Brown.

Coney was born in Manhattan and moved to Connecticut. He lives in New Haven and attends Amistad High School in New Haven.

He plays basketball for fun.

“It calms me down,’’ he said. “It’s a sport that pushes you, and it teaches you to cooperate with others.”

Malcolm Sharpe is a junior at the Hartford Journalism And Media Academy.

This caused Malcolm to panic and try to swim away, but Albert kept grabbing him to bring him back into the water. Finally, Malcolm had to choke Albert into submission, allowing him to escape.

“It was traumatizing and made me panic,’’ Sharpe, now 16, said.

The incident taught Sharpe, who attends the Hartford Journalism and Media Academy, a valuable lesson about being too relaxed and unaware of his surroundings. He has a brother, mother and father who care about his well being. He almost lost his life, which would have ended his dream to go to college on a full scholarship.

Despite the scare, Sharpe stills swims when he wants to relax.

He plays as a defender on his high school’s soccer team. He also volunteers at a kitchen in Hartford where they cook and serve homeless people.

Sharpe has won awards for being the most improved student in his class.

Alfred Coney is a senior at Achievement First Amistad High School, New Haven.