MIDDLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Newly-released body camera footage shows a state trooper pulling a man with special needs from a burning building in Middleboro late last month.
Trooper John Hagerty from the Middleboro barracks had been patrolling the area of West Grove Street around 1:15 a.m. when he noticed that Acorn Hill Home was on fire, state police said. A dozen people had left the building and the attached rooming house where the blaze had begun, but Hagerty learned that one person remained inside on the third floor on the left side of the house.
“(Hagerty) threw a ground ladder that happened to be there and assisted the man out the window,” said Middleboro Fire Chief Lance Benjamino.
The man, identified as Patrick Sullivan, suffered serious burns to his body and was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he remains in the intensive care unit, Benjamino said. Sullivan’s mother, Lyn Cronin, said he was living on his own for the first time.
“He woke up to the fire alarms going off and people yelling to get out and he could not get out his door the fire was already right there,” Cronin said.
Cronin was was able to visit her son at the hospital, and was also able to visit Hagerty, who was taken to Morton Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and then released.
Sullivan was able to visit Hagerty earlier this week to say thank you.
“He risked his life to save my son. If he wasn’t there, I don’t know what would have happened,” Cronin said. “I started crying and I had to hug him and he was very humble like it was just part of his job and to me it’s not. To me it’s going above and beyond … I just can’t thank Trooper Hagerty enough – he’s definitely our hero.”
Officials say a candle in the second floor living room was to blame for the fire.
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