Community Corner
Fundraiser Started For MA Man Who Died Rescuing Family
A fundraiser has been started for a man who drowned after rescuing his wife and her child from a fast-moving river in New Hampshire.
LAWRENCE, MA — A fundraiser has been started to "bring awareness and show support for our late hero Vincent Parr." Parr, 37, of Lawrence, died Sunday afternoon after rescuing his wife and her child from the Swift River in New Hampshire.
A GoFundMe was started by Alison Kern to "ease the financial burden during this hard and stressful time and give Vincent the peace and proper service/burial that he deserves."
"He dove in without a second thought and saved both of them before getting caught himself and was unable to surface," Kern wrote.
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Police received a call regarding a possible drowning in the Swift River in Albany on Sunday afternoon.
The family was on the Passaconaway roadside of the Swift River. A mother and child became stuck in an area with fast-moving water, according to police.
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Parr attempted to rescue them and became caught in the current. The mother and child got to shore. Bystanders helped bring Parr to the shoreline where CPR was performed, but he was ultimately pronounced deceased, police said in a statement.
An investigation into the drowning is ongoing.
Parr was remembered on the GoFundMe page as "a family man" with "a pure heart of gold."
"He was the glue that held strong and always kept positive and logical no matter what situation was thrown at him or the rest of his family," Kern wrote. "He was the best of us and was taken 37 years young from this world. His bravery goes unmatched and we know that if he had the chance, he would do the same heroic actions of jumping into that river and saving those two lives."
As of Tuesday morning, $7,845 had been raised out of a $20,000 target.
In a similar incident last week, a Massachusetts woman drowned at a New Hampshire waterfall attempting to rescue her child. Melissa Bagley, 44, of Lynn, had hiked with her family to Franconia Falls when one of her children slipped and fell into one of the pools at the falls.
See related: Lynn Mother Dies In Attempt To Rescue Son At NH Waterfall
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