Man drowns in Northbridge pond, son hospitalized
Both were in cardiac arrest
NORTHBRIDGE - A 43-year-old Uxbridge man drowned and his 6-year-old son was in serious condition last night after the pair were pulled from Meadow Pond yesterday afternoon, police said.
Police Chief Walter Warchol identified the drowning victim as Sarwat Hanna, 43, of Uxbridge. His son, Yousef, 6, was in serious condition last night at UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus in Worcester, Warchol said.
The father and son, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, were pulled out of Meadow Pond shortly after 3 by emergency responders, and by two men who jumped into the water to help.
Hanna’s wife and 3-year-old daughter were on the shore when the two fell in.
An unidentified woman called police to report that a child was in the water. The pair were fishing near a culvert on Main Street, about half a mile from Walmart. They were found about 20 feet from the shore in water at least 10 to 12 feet deep, Warchol said at a press conference last night at the police station. He said it appeared that the boy fell in first, and Hanna jumped in to try to save him.
Fire Chief Gary
Traffic on Main Street was blocked off from Border Street to Prescott Street while authorities investigated.
Jonathan S. Dawe Sr., 37, a former firefighter in town, heard the call on a scanner at his house and rushed to the pond, about three-quarters of a mile away.
He jumped into the water and began pulling ashore a boy he described as lifeless.
Dawe said his training as a firefighter took over when he arrived at Meadow Pond, a popular fishing spot on the opposite side of the Main Street causeway from where the town beach used to be.
“It was an instant reaction,’’ he said, outside his house where his shoes were drying out.
Labrie said last night that there did not appear to be any unusual conditions, although there is a strong current.