A Kent Island Eagle Scout is credited with saving a boater’s life at a local marina over Labor Day weekend, when the man fell unconscious from his boat into the water and became tangled in dock lines.
On the morning of Sunday, September 6, a boater at Kentmorr Marina was cleaning the deck of his boat when he slipped, hit his head, and fell into the water. Bystanders yelled for help, and that’s when Eagle Scout and Kentmorr employee Brice O’Malley rushed over. He helped untangle the boater from lines in the water, then brought him to the surface, according to a Facebook post from Kent Island Troop 1631. O’Malley brought the man to the swim platform of a nearby boat, where he worked to clear the man’s airway, the post said.
Queen Anne’s County EMS responded to the scene. Assistant Chief Scott Wheatley tells Bay Bulletin, “We encourage the public to step up in a time of need and this individual absolutely assisted in saving this man’s life.”
The boater was alive and speaking when EMS arrived, and they got him safely to the hospital.
Troop 1631 wrote of O’Malley, “Brice’s actions show the true measure of his character as an Eagle Scout and brings great credit upon the members of Scouts BSA, Troop 1631, and all those who earn the rank and become Eagle Scouts!”
-Meg Walburn Viviano
