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Whitinsville Good Samaritan Recounts Boy's Rescue, Dad's Drowning

WHITINSVILLE (CBS) - A Good Samaritan raced to help after a young boy and his father fell into a Whitinsville pond on Tuesday, but only one survived the tragic fishing accident.

Jonathan Dawe downplays his act of courage, but it may have saved a young boy's life.

"I heard on the police scanner that there was a kid in the water, up the street, and I just drove up there," said Dawe.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Jim Smith reports on the 911 call

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Dawe found chaos along Meadow Pond, where a 6-year-old boy was underwater along with his father. The two were fishing on a culvert when the boy somehow went in, and the father tried to rescue him.

WBZ-TV's Sera Congi reports.

The mother and sister on shore screamed for help and people nearby called 911.

Dawe, a former volunteer firefighter, arrived before rescuers and dove right in.

"I just saw something that shouldn't have been in the water, went in, and just tried to bring him to shore," said Dawe. "He was unconscious when I pulled him out."

While Dawe and rescuers were focused on getting the boy out, no one realized the father was in the water too.

"I didn't know that there was a second person in the water until the child was on shore, then the father surfaced," said Dawe.

The father didn't survive, while the boy rushed to the hospital.

"I feel bad for the family, and I hope the boy makes it," said Dawe.

The boy, who was identified as 6-year-old Yousef Hanna of Uxbridge, is in serious condition at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

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