NAHANT — An 11-year-old boy in Nahant helped save his 47-year-old father’s life on Wednesday at Long Beach after he fell off his kiteboard.
Nahant Fire Chief Austin Antrim said they had received a call just before 12:30 p.m. after being notified by the Nahant Police Department, who had been contacted after the boy realized that his father, who is an experienced kite-surfer, was struggling to get back on the board “on his own.” He then asked someone to help call 911 for him, at which point the Nahant Police Department also notified DCR staff and the Swampscott Fire Department.
“He had a gear failure, so one of the cords to his kite broke, which caused the kite to come down,” Antrim explained to The Daily Item. “He was a fair distance offshore… but because of the tide and the wind, he wasn’t able to make it back in.”
When he arrived, Antrim was able to locate the boy’s father, who had a flotation device and a wet suit with him, through binoculars. Nahant Police then launched their drone and had it hover over him to keep “an eye on him,” while the Swampscott Fire Department launched a boat. They managed to throw the father a life rope to bring him on board their boat.
It was then that the Nahant Fire Department’s watercraft, which can get closer to the shore, arrived and brought the father back to safety and reunited him with his son. The father did not have any injuries and refused medical care.
Antrim, who noted that they “typically get around a dozen incidents a year in the waters” around Nahant, credited his rescue with being a collective effort by all three departments, as well as state police, who were also present on the scene.
“It really was a good team effort by everyone,” Antrim stated. “The Swampscott crew did an outstanding job reaching them and getting them safely on board, too.”
