At approximately 1:30 p.m. on Friday, August 28, a drowning occurred at the pond at NARA Park. According to District Attorney Marian Ryan, who spoke to reporters at the park in the early evening, a 75-year-old grandmother was walking with three grandchildren, ages one and approximately four and six, along the path around the pond that begins at the parking lot to the right of the bathhouse. The family members had been dropped off by the children’s parents, to spend time at the park.
Emphasizing that the investigation is still in its earliest phase, Ryan speculated that the youngest fell into the water, where the edge is slippery and the water quickly becomes deep, and the grandmother tried to rescue him. The two older children sought the help of a bystander, who called 9-1-1 and alerted the lifeguards across the pond. Two bystanders managed to remove the toddler and grandmother from the water. Channel 5 WCVB news reported that two of the camp lifeguards swam across to help while another remained with the campers on their last day of summer camp.
The toddler, who would have been two years old next week, was medflighted to a Boston hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The grandmother was treated at an area hospital and later transferred to a Boston hospital where she is in critical condition. Ryan said her office is not sharing the identification of the family and hopes others will respect their privacy.
One Acton resident told the Acton Exchange that his wife had arrived at the camp for an early pickup, to bring one of the children to a kindergarten orientation across town. She found the park full of emergency vehicles, including at least one medflight helicopter. The father said his older child was quite disturbed at what he had observed from the beach.
Recreation Director Timothy Michalski confirmed that the campers were on the beach at the time of the emergency across the pond. Michalski and his staff were on hand to support the counselors in the afternoon, joined by Town Manager John Mangiaratti…