Plymouth County

3 boys call 911 after seeing man face down in Whitman dam, firefighters pull man from water

WHITMAN, Mass. — Firefighters rescued a man who fell face first into a dam in Whitman Saturday afternoon, Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno said.

Three boys told Boston 25 News they were hanging out around 3:45 p.m. in the area of Hobart’s Pond off Pond Street when they heard a splash and walked over to see a man face down in one to two feet of water.

“We thought the guy had gone swimming, but then we got scared because he was face first in the water,” said 14-year-old Neal, who didn’t want to share his last name with us. “We called 911.”

14-year-old Eugene Hamilton said the man appeared to be injured.

“He had blood dripping from his head,” said Hamilton. “It look liked his head bounced off a rock.”

12-year-old Conal, who also didn’t want to share his last name with us, said he tried to roll the man over.

“He was kind of heavy,” said Conal. “I tried to lift up his head, but I could only keep it up for a couple of seconds.”

Grenno said two police officers were first to arrive at the scene and flipped the man onto his side to clear his airway. Two additional officers then helped them stabilize him.

Firefighters donning survival suits then arrived and pulled the man out of the water and placed him in an ambulance.

The man was awake and talking to the paramedics as they transported him to South Shore Hospital to be checked out, according to Grenno.

Conal said he feels like this could have had a much different ending if he and his friends didn’t happen to be in the right place at the right time.

“He would have definitely been dead by now,” he said.

The man has only been identified as a 63-year-old Whitman resident.

Whitman Police are currently investigating the incident.

Boston 25 News saw a Whitman police officer and Plymouth County sheriff’s deputy removed items in a paper bag from the scene. Police also removed a bicycle.