Trending Topics

Mass. firefighters help woman 800 miles away after Facebook mishap

A woman in Michigan contacted the wrong Wayland Fire Department on Facebook when her son started choking and she did not have access to a phone

Associated Press

WAYLAND, Mass. — A team of firefighters from Wayland, Massachusetts, is being praised for coming to the aid of a woman about 800 miles away in Wayland, Michigan, who contacted them via Facebook in a panic to say her son was choking.

The Massachusetts department’s Facebook page isn’t monitored 24/7, but firefighter Patrick Walkinshaw happened to be looking at it about 10:30 p.m. Saturday when the woman, who didn’t have access to a phone, sent her desperate plea to the wrong Wayland Fire Department.

Firefighters Dean Casali and William Tyree knew something was wrong because they didn’t recognize the address.

While one Massachusetts firefighter did a search for the woman’s address, another stayed with her on Facebook, and a third called the Michigan community’s fire department, which sent an ambulance.

The 16-year-old boy survived.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU