A duck boat that happened to be conducting water rescue training saved a man and his child from the Charles River Monday morning in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The child, who was under 2, was able to squeeze through a railing near the back side of the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge and fell into the river, Massachusetts State Police said. The child's father then jumped in, grabbing the child in the water.
The pair was then picked up by a passing Boston Duck Tours boat. The company's CEO said the boat was conducting safety training exercises in the area, and boat's operators spoke to reporters about the irony of doing "man overboard" training when they were waved down in their vessel, Olga Ironsides.
"We instantly jumped into action," Capt. Michael Rosario said.
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They said they lowered the back stairs to grab the little boy out of the water.
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The Cambridge Fire Department said the man and child were being evaluated by EMS, and that Cambridge and state police were at the scene. The child was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The situation remained under investigation.
Images shared with NBC10 Boston showed the pair in the water, clinging to the rocks that line the river, as the duck boat approached.
Dom DeMasi, who took the images, said he "heard somebody screaming, and I looked over across the river and there was a guy jumping into the water."
He thought at first a dog might have been the source of the splashing, but was astonished to see "this guy pick up a baby out of the water." '
Rosario and his colleague, duck boat narrator Kevin O'Neill, said they were happy to have conducted a rescue and that the father and son will live to tell the tale.
