Youth’s Bravery Saves Drowning Child

By Steve Bigham

Pat O’Handley has earned the nickname “Mitch” this summer after his quick actions helped save the life of a seven-year-old boy in the waters off North Carolina July 9.

“Mitch” of course, is the lead character of the hit television series “Baywatch,” a show about California lifeguards who make a living out of saving lives. But unlike his television counterpart, Pat’s experience was all too real. Those who witnessed the incident are calling the young man a hero.

Pat, 15, has spent many summer vacations with his family at Emerald Island, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. An experienced swimmer, he knows the large waves and strong riptide can cause problems for even the best swimmers. But he never expected to be called into action, until he heard the cry for help recently.

“I was out in the water at the time when this kid goes ‘Help, help.’ At first I thought he was just screwing around, but then I realized he was in trouble,” Pat recalled this week. “That current is so strong. If you get caught in it, it pulls you out.”

The riptide was pulling the small boy out to sea. Losing strength, the boy was going under about 50 yards from shore. Another few seconds and the boy could have been lost forever. There were no lifeguards on duty at the time.

“I started swimming toward him, but I was having trouble too. The undertow was really strong,” Pat said. “He went under a couple of times, but I finally managed to reach him and he grabbed on to my back. I fought it for as long as I could.”

At 6’2”, Pat had the size and strength to resist the heavy current until more help arrived. A man with a boogey board arrived moments later, as did others, including Pat’s father, Dan, who helped bring the young lad to safety.

Pat, who will be a junior at Newtown High School this year, took a few moments to rest, had a sandwich, and then went back into the water. He says he simply did what any person would do when faced with having to save someone. Does he consider himself a hero?

“I guess so,” he said. “That little kid would have been way gone.”

While Pat prefers to play down his heroic deed, his parents, Dan and Debbie O’Handley, say their son showed them a great deal that day.

“He didn’t even think about it, which, as a parent, makes me so proud,” said Mrs O’Handley. “It speaks a lot about his character. I say to him, ‘My God, do you realize what you just did?’ He just shrugs it off.”

Pat is not one to speak up about much, especially when it comes to taking credit for something. His actions this summer, however, speak volumes.

“We’ve always told our kids to have a healthy respect for the water, especially the ocean,” Mrs O’Handley said.

A week after the incident, Pat’s sister, Caitlin, was at basketball camp at Western Connecticut State University. There, a counselor asked a young girl from New Milford what the most exciting thing she had done that summer. Her reply: seeing a teenage boy save the life of a youngster in the waters off a beach in North Carolina.

“It turns out her dad was the guy who gave me the boogey, Bill Thomas,” Pat said.

As for the nickname, Pat hopes that doesn’t stick around too long.

By the way, Pat O’Handley had a small role in the movie Sleepers, which had many of its scenes filmed in Newtown. Pat was 10 at the time and his mom took him to Edmond Town Hall for a casting call. Producers liked what they saw in Pat and gave him a speaking role. His lines eventually were cut out of the movie, but he can still be seen in several of the scenes.