Three rescued off Marblehead beach after boy drifts too far

MARBLEHEAD – Three people were rescued off the shores of Preston Beach Monday morning, after a teenager and a frantic mom attempted to save a young boy who drifted too far out in an inner tube.According to Marblehead Fire Captain Mike Porter, the department was alerted to the incident at approximately 11:40 a.m., by a bystander who said a 12-year-old boy, his mother and a 16-year-old girl were in trouble on the water.”They were at least a quarter mile out,” Porter said. “The 12-year-old boy was in a tube and apparently fell asleep while listening to some tunes and drifted out. The 16 year old noticed and swam out to get him.”By the time the unidentified teen made it to the tube, Porter said she was likely tuckered out and clung onto the tube as well. Noticing everything from shore was the boy’s mother, who then hopped onto a tube of her own in an attempt to rescue the pair.”Another mom watching on shore called 911 to let us know,” Porter said.As a result, Fire Captain Charles Cerrutti responded to the scene with firefighters Joe Thibodeau and John Lequin, who quickly launched the department’s 13-foot Zodiac inflatable boat.”The boy and girl were rescued on the Zodiac, and the mom was rescued by the Marblehead Harbormaster,” Porter said. “Everybody was OK, but probably a little shaken up.”Atlantic Ambulance was on scene to treat the group. No injuries were reported. The Swampscott Fire Department also responded to assist, along with the Swampscott Harbormaster, but they were not needed.The names of those rescued were not released as of press time Monday.Just last week, Porter said another group of people found themselves in trouble on the sea. Three 26-year-old men had been traveling on a boat from Swampscott, when their boat flipped over and they found themselves capsized, according to Porter.”They crawled up on the boat and ended up drifting toward Tinker’s Island,” Porter said. “It was dark and they couldn’t see, but people heard them yelling and they made it to shore without needing much of our help.”