Man Dies Trying to Rescue Mom, Child From NH River

They made it out, but Vincent Parr did not
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 21, 2023 11:03 AM CDT
Man Dies Trying to Rescue Mom, Child From NH River
File photo of the Swift River in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire.   (Getty / Gerald G. Gantar)

A Massachusetts man died over the weekend while rescuing relatives from a New Hampshire river in the second such death in the state less than a week, officials said. A mother and a child became stuck around midday Sunday in a fast stretch of the Swift River in Albany, New Hampshire, the state Department of Public Safety said in a news release, per the AP. The father, Vincent Parr, 37, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, went in to help and also got caught in the current, investigators said. The mother and child reached shore safely, but bystanders had to bring Parr to the riverbank. He was pronounced dead after lifesaving efforts at the scene.

"From the day he was born, he was so selfless,'' said his mother, Becca Parr. "I know he didn't think for a moment, 'I could die,' he just did what he could. He was a loving soul, kind-hearted and never put himself first." Parr's death remains under investigation, and the State Police Marine Patrol is asking witnesses to come forward, authorities said. His death comes after Melissa Bagley, 44, of Lynn, Massachusetts, drowned Tuesday while trying to rescue her 10-year-old son, who had fallen into a fast current while visiting Franconia Falls. The deaths of Parr and Bagley occurred about 20 miles apart in the White Mountain National Forest.

(More drowning stories.)

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