Boston Duck Tour boat crew rescues boy and father after fall into Charles River

WBZ

By Neal Riley, Kristina Rex

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    CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Boston Duck Tour boat came to the rescue of a little boy and his father after a fall into the Charles River Monday morning.

Massachusetts State Police said the boy, who is under 2 years old, apparently squeezed through the railing and fell into the water behind the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. The boy’s father jumped in after him.

Duck Boat first on scene after fall into river

Photographer Dominic DeMasi was across the river and heard the mother’s screams. “Extreme. Like she was upset. You could tell,” DeMasi said. “And then I saw the man jump in and I just knew that something was wrong, so I zoomed in on my camera.”

Police and firefighters were called, but it was a Duck Boat that arrived on scene first. The amphibious vehicle that’s famous for taking tourists to see Boston landmarks from land and water happened to be doing a routine rescue training drill nearby.

DeMasi’s photos show the orange Duck Boat heading toward the father and child who were clinging to a stone wall. Two workers on the Duck Boat say they have never seen anything like this in their combined 20-plus years on the job.

“Just hold on to this kid”

Duck Boat operator and captain Michael Rosario said “the adrenaline was kicking in.”

“This is crazy,” he said. “It was happening while we were doing training. Now we’re doing a real-life rescue.”

“I was thinking, just hold on to this kid,” narrator and captain Kevin O’Neill said. “Get them up onto the Duck safe.”

As Rosario got the Duck Boat into position, O’Neill got the life ring out and down to the father and son, pulling them to safety. Rosario said the child was crying and cold, so they wrapped him in a blanket.

“He just said, thank you, thank you so much and he was effusively thankful, and we said of course, we are so glad that you guys are OK,” O’Neill said.

“I have two daughters,” Rosario said. “I just thought about if it was my child and I was stuck in there, I would be so happy if somebody came to rescue us.”

The boy and his father are OK. As for Duck Boat rescuers Rosario and O’Neill, they went right back to work for a busy day of tours.

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