FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Waltham firefighter is sharing the story of how he ended up on the receiving end of his peers’ care after he was hit by a tree limb while walking his dog in a Framingham neighborhood Wednesday.
Off-duty Waltham Fire Lt. Selvin Sandoval said he was walking his dog Walter on Eaton Road when he heard a tree crack. Instead of immediately running away, Sandoval went to the street to warn passing Department of Public Works (DPW) trucks that they should stop.
“I ran into the street to wave them down. I didn’t realize how long the branches were, so that’s what, I think, got me,” Sandoval said.
Seconds later, witnesses said a tree limb snapped off, bouncing off of a DPW truck’s windshield before hitting the 39-year-old in the head and trapping him under the debris.
“I lost consciousness, maybe seconds, minutes, I couldn’t tell you how long, from when the tree hit me, and when I pulled myself out,” he said. “I got myself out of the tree, but I couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure if it was dirt or what, but it was, I think, blood or maybe debris.”
The Framingham Fire Department quickly responded, and Sandoval asked for a neck brace. The United States Army veteran said he went into work mode, and warned neighbors who also responded to help to stay away from downed power lines.
Sandoval said while he was being treated by firefighters, he felt like he was supposed to be “on the other end.”
Sandoval’s wife Melissa was home with their two daughters, aged two-years-old and five-years-old, and said she is thankful her husband is okay and he was able to have a part in saving the DPW workers.
“It happened so fast but it felt like it was an eternity,” Melissa said. “I think they would have been seriously hurt, and he took the brunt of it for that. I don’t know many other people who would do that.”
Sandoval suffered a gash on his head and has some neck pain, but said his doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital told him he is expected to make a full recovery.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)