Dolphin With Rabies

Life on beautiful Cape Cod.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Most embarrassing rescue ever

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Mike Hill was out on a hunting trip with a friend Monday when he got stuck in the muck tracking a deer...Hill, who waded into waist-deep water in a marshy area, grew cold and realized he was lost. He pulled out his cell phone and help was soon on the way. More than two dozen rescue workers from Bridgewater and surrounding towns arrived to search.

But the rescuers couldn't reach Hill. Three firefighters set out on an airboat, but the boat got stuck. The firefighters themselves got mired in the marsh as they tried slogging on foot toward Hill, said Bridgewater Fire Chief Roderick Walsh.

Another firefighter and the police officer with a rescue dog named Gorby set out on an all terrain vehicle from another direction. They, too, got stuck in the swamp, along with the dog. Even a hovercraft brought in by a neighboring town got bogged down, Walsh said...Ultimately, it was a U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) helicopter that managed to pluck Hill, three firefighters, the police officer and Gorby from the marsh — hauling them up, dripping, through the trees to safety in a wire basket.

About half the people in my office are originally from Bridgewater or "the surrounding towns". You can tell. They embody the efficiency and common sense portrayed in this article. Thank God the Coast Guard has a presence on Cape Cod, because we may need them some day.

I get to hear all about Bridgewater at office lunches. Which may be a good thing, because God knows no one outside of Bridgewater would ever bother discussing it and I get to learn things that increase my greater knowledge of the world. The long-standing football rivalry between East Bridgewater and West Bridgewater high schools? Exciting stuff.

Our hunter must have been thinking about the Big Game that was going to be broadcast on the Bridgewater Cable Access channel. That's why he forgot his map and compass.