NORWOOD, MASS. (WHDH) - Three children were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries Thursday after a tree branch fell on a playground during a summer camp session in Norwood, officials said.
The incident happened near 10 a.m. Thursday at Father Mac’s Playground near the intersection of Hawthorne Street and Vernon Street.
Norwood Recreation was holding one of its regular day camp sessions at the playground when the tree fell, town officials said in a statement.
Though several camp participants were hurt, officials said the worst injury appeared to be an ankle injury.
Video shared with 7NEWS showed the aftermath of this incident, with emergency crews seen helping at least one child onto a stretcher.
Father Mac’s Playground and its surrounding area was taped off with caution tape and several bags appeared to have been left near the playground.
Suzanne Vanhoesen, who lives next to the playground, said she heard a “loud thud” as the tree branch fell. Then, she heard screams.
A nurse, Vanhoesen said she rushed outside to investigate. As she arrived at the playground, she said she found one rising second grade student had her foot stuck under the tree branch.
She said she performed a quick assessment of the child.
“I could see that the color in her foot was good,” Vanhoesen said. “I asked her to wiggle her toes.”
Vanhoesen said the child was able to wiggle her toes and still had feeling in her foot.
“She asked me if she would walk again,” Vanhoesen said. “I said ‘I think you definitely will.’ I said ‘This is really good that you can feel me touching and wiggling your toes.’
Officials said roughly 11 children had been cooling off in the shade after playing at the playground when the tree branch came down.
While two other young girls were scraped up, with one saying she had some head pain, first responders said they were largely focused on the girl who could not move.
Firefighters soon helped lift the tree branch off the girl using inflatable bags.
Town employees with chainsaws later cleaned up the mess and cut down what was left of the tree near 3 p.m.
Looking back on the incident, Norwood Police Chief Chris Padden said it was “very fortunate” that the branch did not fall in a different spot.
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