MONTAGUE, Mass. (WWLP) – Clean up from last week’s storm is still happening at Lake Pleasant in Montague after the Bridge of Names, which connects the village, was destroyed.
Scott Nickerson was the last person on the bridge before it was destroyed in last week’s storm. He told 22News he was making a trip back from the post office when the rain and the wind started picking up. So he took shelter in the nearby pavilion when trees began to go down.
“I watched as this huge hundred-foot high pine tree snapped in half, landed on the powerline,” he said. “The pressure on the powerlines snapped and the telephone pole fell on the street right in front of me, within a matter of seconds I found myself upside down with my foot pinned between two deck boards.”
Amazingly, Nickerson was able to pull himself to safety. His glasses staying on his face, with some abrasions to his legs and a few cuts. He says he has seen this bridge each day since the storm. And it comes with a whole set of emotions each time.
He says the near-death experience reminded him of how many people depend on him. Including his life partner Patty whose starting chemotherapy for breast cancer.
“She definitely needs me and I need her,” he said. “I think that’s my reflection, boy…at least for my life you know there are a lot of cogs in the wheel and my life isn’t tidy enough to be done with it yet.”
Crews were clearing more debris one week later, but as for when or if the bridge will be repaired, that’s still unclear.