Plymouth teen rescued by passerby after falling through thin ice

PLYMOUTH, Mass. – A father is eager to say thank you to the unidentified Good Samaritan who rescued his son from an icy pond.

The incident happened about 20 yards from shore on Little Sandy Pond in Plymouth around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Fifteen-year-old Caleb and a friend were walking across the frozen pond as a shortcut to a nearby convenience store.

That’s when Caleb plunged through the ice into the bone-chilling water.

“You think you tell your kid enough to stay off the ice stay off the ice we tell him constantly,” Caleb’s dad Scott Seamans said.

Seamans said there had been people skating on the same pond last week.

“He threw out a big rock on the ice and the ice didn’t go through he thought it would be thick enough to walk across,” the father said.

Caleb spent nearly 20 minutes keeping his head above the frigid water, according to his father. At the same time, his friend tried to flag down help.

A man passing by in a truck happened to notice the teen in trouble before it was too late.

Seamans told Boston 25 News Reporter Drew Karedes that the stranger handed Caleb a wooden pallet to help him to safety.

“Thank God there’s good people out there because this could’ve ended much, much worse,” Seaman said. “Just pure relief. I am so unbelievably grateful.”

The man even let Caleb warm up in his truck until paramedics arrived.

The family is hoping for the opportunity to meet the man who they credit with saving Caleb’s life.

The Plymouth High School student was transported to an area hospital and was released after a few hours. Doctors said he came close to experiencing hypothermia.

Plymouth Fire Chief Edward Bradley says this close call is a urgent warning to stay away from thin ice.

“Two days it was 57 degrees around here. You get a little snow on the ground and people think the ice is safe there’s a lot of ponds in Plymouth where the ice is never safe,” he said.

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