STRANGERS ‘CLICK’ TO SAVE MAN’S LIFE
Pair haul Cape fisherman from frozen river
YARMOUTH — An offduty Lawrence firefighter and a 25-year-old hotel clerk sprang into action yesterday morning to rescue a fishing boat captain who slipped off an icy dock and plunged into the frozen waters of Parker’s River, where he frantically called for help as he struggled to stay afloat.
William Pagan, 43, a 20year veteran of the Lawrence Fire Department and Nicholas Spignese, of Brewster, “clicked” as they teamed up to pull Jeff Viamari, 34, out of the ice-cold water and onto a dock by the Riverview Resort, the three men told the Herald.
Pagan, who was staying at the hotel with his fiancee, said he was in his firstfloor room when he heard someone crying out for help when his heater turned off. After opening the screen door and peering around the corner, Pagan said he spotted Viamari, who was clinging to a rope and “neck deep” in the water.
“If my heater hadn’t turned off, I never would have heard him,” Pagan said. “It was just lucky that it turned off when it did.”
Pagan said he rushed to the front desk, where he told Spignese he would need help rescuing the man.
“He was able to click into everything and it felt like we worked together before,” Pagan said. “To be able to go there and simultaneously do that stuff that we did, it goes a long way.”
Viamari, of Yarmouth Port, said he was readjusting the dock lines on his boat — “Bad Influence” — when he slipped and fell.
“I guess there was some ice on the dock, I wasn’t paying attention. And when I pulled, I slipped, and ‘down goes Frazier,” said Viamari, who recalled the incident as a “blur.”
“My main goal was to keep my head and heart above the water and yell and scream as loud as I can,” he said. “Words can’t express what I am feeling. Without them hearing me and coming to my rescue ... They saved my life. They are the true heroes.”
Working together, Pagan said he and Spignese grabbed the roughly 6-foottall, 270 pound Viamari by the shoulders and hoisted him up onto the dock.
As soon as they pulled him from the river, Pagan said the two men did everything they could to warm Viamari up.
Pagan said he jumped into Viamari’s boat and grabbed a sweater, gloves and a small blanket. When Viamari started complaining about his cold feet, Pagan said he jumped back on the boat and grabbed rags, which he wrapped around his toes.
Meanwhile, Spignese ran back to the hotel, called 911, and returned with two kingsize fleece throws.
The rescuers said it took them about five minutes to pull Viamari out of the water and it was another 15 before he was safely in the back of an ambulance and on his way to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
Spignese and Pagan both scoffed at the idea that they were heroes. Spignese said “hero” is a hard word to wrap his mind around.
Pagan said as a firefighter, he’s never off-duty and can’t even drive by a car wreck without making sure no one is seriously hurt.
Pagan said his advice to Viamari, who is married with two young children, is to “enjoy his kids, that’s all that counts. He got a second chance at life.”
When asked about his rescuers, Viamari said, “I will make it a point to catch up with them once I feel better ... You never think it’ is going to happen to you, until it does.”