Elderly man alive thanks to teens

Paul Sullivan

The Sun

Rarely does a story involving a carload of teen-agers turn out well. But this tale is the exception.

On Monday night about 6, Lowell brothers Billy and Scott Laganas... were driving near Shedd Park with their boyhood friend, David Whittaker... Also in the car were the Laganas' two cousins... and [a] friend,... all of them from Lowell.

As the car pulled up Fairmount Street near the Battles Nursing Home, they saw someone lying on the side of the road. Billy stopped the car to see if the person needed help.

Joe Moynihan [the man lying by the road] was in pretty bad shape... [A resident of the nursing home, he is usually] accompanied by someone to make sure he is safe [when he goes out for walks. This time, however, he went out on his own.] Once Moynihan was out he headed down the street and must have slipped on some ice. For about one hour, he was barely conscious...

The teens asked an older man if he could help, but he told them not to worry, that Moynihan was probably drunk. "But we knew he was hurt," Billy said.

All the kids helped get Moynihan into the car. To make room, the younger kids and Scott Laganas walked home while Billy and David Whittaker brought Moynihan to Saints Memorial Hospital Medical Center.

"They were heroes," said Louise Beauchesne, a clerk in the emergency room. She said Moynihan was lucky the boys found him. "In this day and age, many people would just drive right on by," she said.

Paul Sullivan
from The Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts),
January 23, 1997.
Reprinted with permission.

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