Struggling Swan Gets Saved in Fall River
A feel good story emerged out of Fall River this week.
On October 2, Assistant Harbormaster Paul Border from the demonstrated an act of humane kindness towards a struggling swan. Fall River Harbormaster Bob Smith says the swan was caught up in an entanglement of balloons:
"Today we received a call for a swan in distress at the far south end of the river. He had the cords from (3) helium balloons wrapped around his legs and could not move very well. The balloons were still connected. This was a job for Paul Borges from the Harbormaster Department. We get quite a few of these calls and Paul has gotten very experienced at removing fishing line from swans. He snatches them out of the water before they know what is happening, cuts the line, and sends them on their happy way. Thank you, Paul." -Bob Smith, Fall River Harbormaster
Before Borges freed and released the swan from the balloons earlier that day, Cindy Berard from Fall River Animal Control attempted to assist the swan multiple times through rough waters in her canoe. Former Fall River Councilor Pat Casey worked the phones to orchestrate the rescue, with the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Gen Andrade, also making calls to help with a solution to the problem.
"When you think of all the effort that was put in to save this swan, it's pretty amazing," Smith stated. "There are some pretty awesome people here in Fall River. They should all be very proud of themselves".