The Natick Heroine and the Drowning Child

The daring and quick response of a star Natick female basketball player in April 1926 resulted in the rescue of a young child from drowning.

Four year old Gertrude Brophy was playing at Heinlein’s Bathhouse late in the afternoon of April 7,1926. With her were her two sisters,Mabel and Adele, and two friends. They all lived on Water Street, a short distance from the boathouse.

Earlier that afternoon they had been playing outside their homes but as the day wore in they slowly worked their way toward the area adjacent to the Charles River.

There the girls began to take turns riding a small cart down a slight incline near the wharf.

Each time, before they reached the wharf’s edge, the girls would turn their cart’s wheels sharply in a wide semi-circle to avoid plunging into the river.

Apparently the children were not aware of the dangerous aspects of their impromptu game and no adult was nearby to warn them.

When Gertrude took her turn during the third or fourth series of rides, she suddenly found she was unable to turn the cart away from the wharf in time. She and the cart shot off the wooden structure and plunged into ten feet of water.

As soon as her playmates saw Gertrude disappear from view, the panicky playmates ran to Water Street to find help. There they encountered Natick High School senior Hilda Smith walking home after doing some grocery shopping.

When Hilda saw the terror in the little girls’ eyes and heard their breathless and sometimes garbled explanation of what had just occurred, she dropped her groceries and followed them.

Fortunately Hilda was in excellent physical condition. She was one of the stars of the girls’ basketball team and was noted for her swift and decisive action on the court.

Upon reaching the river, Hilda threw off her sweater and shoes and leaped into the icy water. As she did so she spotted Gertrude’s head sinking deeper into the river, apparently going down for the third time.

Even though she herself was chattering from the cold, Hilda reached the child, brought her to shore and applied the prone method of resuscitation.

After what seemed to all the girls and Hilda like a dangerously long time, Gertrude began to cough.

By then one of the nearby neighbors had alerted Gertrude’s mother as to what had happened and she had rushed to the scene. As a result she witnessed the last moments of Hilda’s successful resuscitation effort.

By then police and other rescuers had arrived on the scene and soon both Gertrude and Hilda were rushed to the hospital.

It was subsequently learned that neither had suffered any serious after effects of the near-drowning and Hilda’s rescue effort, and were released to their respective parents.

The next day, the highschool principal conducted an impromptu assembly at which he extolled Hilda’s accomplishments to date including her athletic prowess and added that she was also a talented violinist in the school’s orchestra.

His remarks were greeted with prolonged applause and cheers. He congratulated Hilda for her swift and heroic efforts that prevented Gertrude from drowning that early Spring day.