An off-duty firefighter is being credited with saving the life of an older man in Lynnfield. On Aug. 6, while Tom Leard was padding around Pillings Pond in Lynnfield, he heard someone screaming for help. Rather than just call 911, he followed the screams to shore and to the second floor of a home.
There he found an elderly man bleeding. Leard set to work to control the bleeding from what Lynnfield Fire Chief Glenn Davis described as a potentially life-threatening injury. Leard stayed and helped until Lynnfield firefighters and EMTs arrived.
"Leard's quick and decisive willingness to respond to a person in need is commendable and upholds the highest ideals and traditions for the fire service," Davis said in a letter of commendation to the Waltham Fire Department.