NH Heroes: Brady Procon stopped a runaway boat from plowing into sailing students
On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Union Leader will honor him as a New Hampshire Hero of 2024.
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NH Heroes: Manchester firefighters were rescuers in storm-ravaged N.C.
When the Swiftwater Rescue Team from the Manchester Fire Department arrived in Boone, North Carolina, during Hurricane Helene last September, they knew their skills would be tested.
Procon and friends were cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, talking and laughing on a Saturday afternoon when a loud motor boat roared into peaceful Smith Cove in Gilford, where his father, Jeremy Procon, owns vacation property.
'We heard the sound of a roaring boat engine, which was super out of place because it's a no-wake zone. There usually isn't any loud noise or chaos,' Procon said Monday by phone from Navy boot camp. He saw an out-of-control boat with no one aboard — 'a danger to everyone who was around the water.'
People were screaming.
'It unfolded before my eyes. My dad said, 'There's nobody on that boat.''
The operator of a sailing school motor boat had fallen out of the boat, which was careening toward sailing students in their sailboats.
Procon's father jumped in his own boat to get kids out of the water. Procon climbed aboard a neighbor's personal watercraft.
The neighbor drove his craft as close to the boat as he could get, Procon said, but someone had to jump onto the boat, which he estimates was going 15 to 20 mph.
'He looked at me like I was crazy. We circled once, then got close and I jumped on.' His ribs struck the center console. 'I grabbled the steering and turned the throttle way down' to get it away from the dock and the youngsters sailing.
'When I got it, I was shaking. People were clapping a lot. My ribs hurt. I hit that boat pretty hard,' Procon said. 'My friends at the dock said, 'What did you just do?' 'I don't even know,' I said.'
'It was just so random, out of the blue, just another Saturday. The summer before was the first time I drove a jet ski,' he said. 'At first, it was tunnel vision. I saw that boat and wanted to stop it.'
Procon, an avid dirt bike rider and power sports fan, said his goal in the Navy is 'to find a good career for myself. I've always loved the military and the Navy. The movie 'Top Gun.' The discipline and the traditional aspect. The uniform looks good. So far, it's the people. The people in the Navy are awesome. I've met some friends for life.'
'Brady's a pretty courageous kid, pretty athletic as well,' said his father, Jeremy. 'There had to be 15 little sailboats out there that day. We ran out to get the kids out of the situation.'
It was Brady's idea to stop the motorboat, his father said.
'He's always the first to jump off a boat, the first to jump in the river, the first to do a back flip. He's a go-getter. He lives life on the edge.'
'In hindsight, I would have just cleared the people out of the way. He was focused on stopping the boat itself.'
rbaker@unionleader.com
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