Merrimack Valley

Quick-acting boy saves scoutmaster's life

By Jim Patten
jpatten@eagletribune.com
Published: September 8, 2008

METHUEN — Sebastian Beasley may be only 14, but he's a lifesaver.

Sebastian, a member of Boy Scout Troop 51 in Methuen, was working with Assistant Scoutmaster Mark Lajoie on a project on the banks of the Spicket River in Salem, N.H., when Lajoie was pinned under water.

They were clearing brush from the banks of the river just off Route 28 when the accident occurred.

Lajoie, 50, said they were working near the plaza at 326 S. Broadway, where his business, Predator Paintball, and several others are located. The project was designed to give the businesses better visibility from Route 28.

"I was cutting some trees," Lajoie said.

Sebastian was pulling away the brush that Lajoie was cutting. Lajoie said he had stood at that spot several times with no problem, but when he reached up to cut a branch with the chain saw he was using, a board that had been supporting a pile of construction debris snapped, causing the pile to collapse and sending Lajoie 15 feet below into the 4-foot deep water.

He was able to push the chain saw away from him. As he fell into the water, he battled the powerful water.

"The current was pushing me around," Lajoie said.

The debris fell into the river and his legs were pinned, holding him under water. He was able to get his head above water briefly and called to Sebastian for help.

Sebastian handed Lajoie a stick he could use to prop himself above the water, but the stick broke. Sebastian went into the water and propped Lajoie's head and torso above water while the pair worked to free him from the debris.

Sebastian and Lajoie were able to lift the weight off Lajoie's leg just enough for him to get one leg out, and he was able to pull the other leg out and stand up.

"It seemed like an eternity," Lajoie said.

He suffered a chipped ankle bone and a massive bruise on his hip, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. He said he was able to use the stick that broke to fish the chain saw out of the river.

"I think he saved my life. I don't know if I could have held on for whatever time it (would have taken Sebastian) to run back to the business, call 911 and for the Fire Department to drive there," Lajoie said.

Lajoie said Sebastian jumped into the river without hesitation to help save him. He plans to nominate the boy for a lifesaving award.

"It was pretty scary, actually," the soft-spoken Methuen High freshman said. "I just went in with no second thoughts. I didn't have time to think about it."

Brian Arenella, district executive of the North Essex District of the Yankee Clipper Boy Scout Council, said Lajoie "was drowning."

"He could not lift his head above the water," Arenella said. "Sebastian ran down and propped Mark up."

"It was all over in a minute or two," Arenella said.