20 September 2023 , 09:39
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A dad-of-two who tragically died after he was punched at a football game was the same man who saved a little girl's life on a beach.
Dale Mooney, 53, saved a girl at risk of his own life at Hampton Beach when he rushed to save her. The young girl had become trapped between rocks close to a jetty while trying to get her boogie board back in New Hampshire
Dangerous 30mph winds saw the two buffeted by the sea and the little girl had to climb on his back before they made a break for the shore.
“The waves were slamming over her and she couldn’t even stay on her feet,” Mooney told Seacoastonline at the time. “She kept falling in between the rocks, trying to keep her head above water.”
He continued: "Once I made eye contact with her, I couldn’t turn back. As the two or three big waves came up, I told her, ‘Hold your breath, hold your breath.’ And then boom, the wave would hit us. Then we’d fight to stand up and she tried to stand up. She was slipping and sliding."
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Dale with his now devastated wife Lisa (Fox25)He added: “I had a few people come up to me as I came out to tell me, ‘That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen’ and whatnot. So I felt pretty good about it." The girl he save was left a little sore, but was fine.
This month, New England Patriots fan Mooney found himself in an altercation with Miami Dolphins fans. A witness said he passed away after being punched in the head at least twice,
Police and safety personnel responded to the upper deck at Gillette Stadium shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday and found Mooney, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, "in apparent need of medical attention,” the Norfolk County district attorney’s office said in a statement Monday.
Dale died after a fight at the Patriots game (NBC Boston)Mooney was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Massachusetts State Police are investigating what the district attorney termed an “incident” at the stadium.
Witness Joey Kilmartin shot video of what he said was a brutal fight. In interviews with several local media outlets, Kilmartin said he saw Mooney, a Patriots fan, confront a Miami Dolphins fan who he had been arguing with during most of the game, which the Dolphins won.
“He basically engaged in mutual combat with another fan,” Kilmatin told The Boston Globe. “A lot of people started trying to pull them apart. ... It looked like somebody was in the middle of them, and then a man in the Dolphins jersey reached over and he connected with two punches to the victim’s head.
“It wasn’t something crazy or out of the ordinary until, 30 seconds later, the guy wasn’t getting up.”