Mom accepts bravery award for her late son
Family members of Sept. 11 victims gathered at the State House yesterday to remember the loved ones they lost 16 years ago, and to honor a brave little boy from Salem who tragically lost his life in a train accident just months ago.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito posthumously bestowed the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery on Jaydon Dancy for his heroic efforts to save a kayaker in distress at Palmer Cove Yacht Club in August 2016. His mother, Michelle Dancy, said accepting the award in his honor was “bittersweet.”
“It’s an incredible honor, but at the same time I feel very sad,” Dancy said.
“I wish he was here, he’s here in spirit for sure but I wish he could have been here to actually accept the award.”
Jaydon was just 11 when he was struck and killed by a commuter train in Salem June 9, less than a year after he tried to save a man’s life in August 2016.
Jaydon was fishing with friends when he saw a kayaker slumped over in his boat. The then-10-year-old swam out and pulled the kayaker to shore, where first responders were unable to resuscitate him.
“I couldn’t believe how calm he was,” his mother said. “I was shaking, I had to sit down, because I couldn’t believe what he had done.”
On Sept. 11 of each year, state legislators present the award to a civilian who has acted bravely, “without regard for their own personal safety,” in memory of Madeline Amy Sweeney of Acton. Sweeney was a flight attendant aboard the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 who supplied critical information about the terror attack to authorities on the ground before the plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.