CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A duck boat crew rescued a father and son from the Charles River Monday after the young child fell into the river and the father jumped in to help, officials said.
Boston Duck Tours officials said duck boats were in the river practicing safety routines when an operator spotted people in distress.
Boston Duck Tours said the father and son were not associated with any duck boats and said there were no public tours happening at the time of the rescue. Officials said staff helped pull the pair from the water, though, and soon brought them to shore.
State police said the incident happened near 9:30 a.m. near the back side of the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. State police said preliminary information indicated the child squeezed through a railing before falling into the river.
Once back on dry land, police said, emergency crews brought the child to a local hospital as a precaution.
Cambridge Fire Department trucks were still parked near the river near 10:30 a.m. A Cambridge fire rescue boat was also spotted in the area.
Moments before 10:30 a.m., crews were seen pulling a stuffed animal from the water.
One woman who saw the rescue said she heard a woman screaming before the duck boat crew arrived at the scene.
“I went out on the balcony and she said ‘Save him! Save him!” she said.
Dominic Demasi, who took photos of the rescue, said he saw the father holding his son in one arm and grabbing onto a wall on the side of the river with his other arm.
“I saw him holding a baby in his hands,” Demasi said. “You can tell it was a one-year-old or less infant…He rescued the baby really quick.”
Security video showed the child fall into the river, creating a splash. The child’s father was then seen jumping over a fence.
Demasi’s photos showed emergency crews on scene, lowering a life raft to the father and child while the duck boat approached their location.
The duck boat driver and his co-captain spoke to reporters about their experience, saying they sprang into action after they saw a crowd of people trying to get their attention from the Cambridge side of river.
The pair said they used a life raft and a ladder to pull the father and child aboard their boat, dubbed “Olga Ironsides.” The driver and the co-captain said they then wrapped the child in a blanket because he was crying and cold. As they made their way to a nearby dock, they said, the child’s father thanked them profusely.
“He just said ‘Thank you, thank you so much,’” said co-captain Kevin O’Neill. “He was effusively thankful. We said ‘Of course. We’re so glad that you guys are OK.’”
“This was the first time I’ve ever had that experience,” said driver Michael Rosario. “The adrenaline is just now ticking down as we realize we rescued somebody and that they’re going to be alive for another day.”
Rosario said he clipped a dock in the frantic process of steering the duck boat toward the father and son. Hours after the rescue, a chunk of wood was still wedged against one of the vehicle’s headlights.
“The adrenaline was kicking at first,” Rosario said. “So I didn’t really realize what had happened. Once it settled down, it was a sense of joy. This person is able to bring their child [home] and they’re safe.”
Rosario said he and O’Neill would be treating the rest of the day as if it were a normal day, leading their normal tours through Boston’s streets and waterways.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)