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Melrose Police Officers Help Save Boy Impaled On Fence

MELROSE (CBS) – Two Melrose Police Officers helped save a teenager from a gruesome injury. He was impaled on a fence.

Officer Levi DiFranza and Sgt. Charles Byrne were called to Winthrop Elementary around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. They found 14-year-old Jack Wright with his leg impaled by the spikes at the top of a four-foot fence.

"I lost my footing on top of the fence and I slipped and my leg went like -- I didn't realize at first -- but my leg went right through on the spike," Jack told WBZ. "It was very scary."

Jack Wright
Jack Wright (WBZ-TV)

He tried to jump the fence to help an elderly woman who tripped on the sidewalk. His friends used a sweatshirt to attempt to stop the bleeding until first responders and his parents arrived.

"It was kind of a scary scene. I didn't realize -- once I saw that much blood, I was a little worried about why, and that was really off putting," Jack's dad, Christian Wright said.

Officer DiFranza used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding until firefighters arrived to free the teen.

"When the tourniquet went around my leg, I worried I was going to lose my leg with all the blood," Jack said. "Thank God [my friends] were there. They called my parents, they called 911."

Officer Levi DiFranza
Melrose Police Officer Levi DiFranza (WBZ-TV)

Once he was freed, Jack was rushed to Mass General Hospital. Everyone feared the fence has punctured Jack's femoral artery, but they later learned the spike had missed it.

"I'm just doing my job," Officer DiFranza said. "I'd rather save that kid's life every day of the week than stop a bank robber or something, that's what we do."

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