REGIONAL – The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has awarded North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism to three people for life-saving incidents in Salisbury and Ipswich.
The Carnegie Medal for Heroism was awarded to Gary M. Simard, who died trying to save his son caught in a rip tide off Salisbury Beach, and Kenny Crosby, who save the teenager. It was also awarded to Joseph F. Mello iii of Ipswich for saving his father in a house fire.
Ipswich and Rowley firefighters were honored by the Ipswich and Rowley SelectBoards for saving the disabled Joseph Mello, in what Ipswich Fire Chief Paul Parisi called “a low frequency, high risk rescue operation.”
On Sept. 20, 2023, Gary J. Simard, then 12 years old, was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off Salisbury, when a rip current pulled him into water 8 feet deep. At about 75 feet from shore, Gary signaled for help.
His father, Gary M. Simard from Methuen, 44 years old, swam to his son in the strong current. Simard grasped Gary by an arm and tried to pull him to shore, but the current continued to pull them farther from shore.
On the beach, Kenny Crosby, a 34-year-old business owner from Miami Beach, FL, heard shouts for help. Despite the hazardous conditions, Crosby swam to them, reaching them about 150 feet from shore. Simard, exhausted from the effort to rescue his son, pushed Gary to Crosby. The elder Simard submerged and did not resurface.
With Gary in tow, Crosby tried to swim directly to shore, but the current prevented him. Changing course, Crosby swam parallel to the shoreline, eventually reaching wadable water with Gary. Crosby pushed Gary toward a bystander standing in chest-deep water. They exited the water onto the beach.
Gary was examined by paramedics at the scene and was not injured. Emergency personnel reached the father about 300 feet from shore. He was taken to the beach, where they tried to revive him before he was taken to the hospital. He was not revived.
On Aug. 18, last year, then-77-year-old Joseph Mello was recovering from back surgery when a fire broke out on the first floor of 383 Linebrook Rd. home in Ipwich. As the fire spread upward into the rear of the second floor and roof, Mello remained trapped in his bedroom. Across the driveway, his son, a 56-year-old business owner, was stepping into the shower in his home when he heard shouting. Barefoot and wearing only a bathrobe, the son ran outside and saw smoke pouring from the roof of his father’s house. He raced inside and climbed the stairs to his father’s bedroom. After he helped his father to his walker, he soaked towels to help them breathe. The father and son started down the hall toward the stairs, but dense smoke had filled the stairway. The son guided his father to a rear bedroom.
As firefighters responded outside, he opened the window and called for a ladder. Firefighters positioned a ladder to the window, and a firefighter entered the room to help him get his father onto the ladder. Firefighters lowered the elder Mello to the ground and then the son descended.
The elder Mellow was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, cuts and abrasions, but recovered. The son suffered smoke inhalation and abrasions but declined medical treatment. After a few weeks of coughing, he recovered.
