Last October the rescue squads of the town of Old Saybrook, Ct., were hailed as heroes for their work in attempting to save Barbara Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., from a Ford Explorer that had plunged into the Connecticut River. Connors’ son-in-law, who had been at the wheel and who managed to escape from the vehicle on his own, later told police he accidentally hit the SUV’s accelerator, propelling it through a chain-link fence and into the water below. But now Connors is suing a long list of officials of the town (population 1,962) on the grounds that they should have maintained or funded a specially dedicated and equipped dive rescue team; had they done so, she would have been rescued from the submerged vehicle in less than the 29 minutes it actually took, avoiding serious injury. Through her attorney, Robert Reardon Jr. of New London, she’s also suing the son-in-law. “‘I find it extraordinary the town is being sued in these circumstances,’ First Selectman Mike Pace, one of the defendants, said at Thursday’s selectmen’s meeting.” (Claudia Van Nes, “Town Sued Over River Rescue”, Hartford Courant, Aug. 5; Walt Platteborze, “Woman ‘critical’ after being pulled from submerged SUV”, New Haven Register, Oct. 15, 2004).
Dept. of gratitude
Last October the rescue squads of the town of Old Saybrook, Ct., were hailed as heroes for their work in attempting to save Barbara Connors, 75, of Medfield, Mass., from a Ford Explorer that had plunged into the Connecticut River. Connors’ son-in-law, who had been at the wheel and who managed to escape from the […]
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