Off-duty New Bedford, MA, Firefighter Saves Drowning Priest
By Heather Morrison
Source masslive.com (TNS)
A Massachusetts firefighter was vacationing with his family in Bermuda when a 75-year-old Catholic priest was found floating unresponsive in water.
The New Bedford firefighter quickly sprang into action.
Michael Desouza, along with a 911 dispatcher from Waltham, heard about the 75-year-old man found floating in about 2 feet of water next to his brother at a beach. They brought the man ashore but he was not breathing and pulseless.
The two started CPR and the 75-year-old became semi-conscious.
Two surgeons who were nearby on the beach took over after the CPR and he was taken to a local hospital.
The man is a Catholic priest from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada and was on a cruise with his family celebrating his 50th anniversary of ordination as a priest.
He fully recovered and was able to return home, the New Bedford Fire Department said.
“[Firefighter] Desouza exemplifies what the New Bedford Fire Department’s slogan ‘Service Above Self’ means,” the fire department wrote on Facebook. “His lifesaving actions illustrate that the knowledge and skills learned as a firefighter can be called upon to save a life no matter where in the world you might be.”
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