When a man on the creek behind her Mastic home found himself in a life-or-death situation, Kayla Masotto sprung into action. He had fallen through the ice and was struggling to stay afloat. Risking her own life, she grabbed her paddleboard and pulled the man to safety.
Three bystanders at the edge of Poospatuck Creek joined in the rescue—Joseph Wahl, Tony Orsi, and Alyssa Treadwell—and they were all honored in a special ceremony by local officials.
“Today, we highlight an act of kindness that saved a person’s life,” said County Executive Ed Romaine. “I am extremely proud of these brave residents and thank them for their selflessness and willingness to help their neighbors in need.”
In a dramatic video captured by her sister, Kayla pushes her board ahead of her on the ice and then angles it toward the hole where the drowning man was splashing. “Oh my God,” a voice repeats on the video. “Be careful, Kayla.” The man struggles to get up on the board as Kayla, perched on her knees, tries to pull him in. Her board precariously perched half on the ice and half on the water, she offers her paddle, which he grabs and is pulled aboard.
“He started to panic and scream,” Kayla said when she first saw the man in trouble after his jetski got stuck in the ice and sank. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket. “I just did the only thing l could think to do and ran to my basement to get my paddle board and get out on the ice because l just know how quickly someone could go into hypothermia and drown in a situation like that.” As Kayla moved in, she said the victim told her his fingers weren’t working, and his legs were numb. When they were safe on shore, he thanked her, saying he thought he was going to die.
The 911 call about the man being in distress came in at 12:30 p.m., according to Steve Januszkiewicz, assistant director of Suffolk’s Office of Emergency Management. “Our dispatcher was quickly processing the call to get the responders out, but before they were able to finish that, the update from the caller was that somebody, who we now know as Kayla, was already affecting a rescue,” he said, noting, “By the time the call was done and help was on the way, the man was out of the water.”
Long Island was experiencing a cold snap that spread sheets of ice across local waters. “Kayla did a great job,” Januszkiewicz, who also serves as chief of the Mastic Fire Department, went on. “The rescue was certainly not without risk. She was calculated and strategic and stayed low, which was very smart.”
Also heaping accolades on the 28-year-old was County Clerk Vince Puleo, himself a 53-year emergency services veteran. “It takes a lot of courage to do what Kayla did. Even if you were an expert out there, a lot could go wrong.”
“It truly was a group effort,” Kayla stressed. “I couldn’t have done what l did without the efforts of the other three. It was a scary situation for all involved.” The hero thanked the members of the Mastic Fire Department for their quick response and the Suffolk Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Department. “It’s weird when people say you’re a hero, a superwoman, but truly, I’m just a neighbor and l would do it for anyone and l hope that my message and l hope that’s the message we can put out to the community.”
"This is the best of Suffolk," Romaine said. "Suffolk should be where we take care of one another, and we care about one another, and she cared enough to listen and to act. We’re not a community where you set people on fire and just watch,” he concluded. “That’s another type of community.”