Man had high alchohol level during rescue dive
Published: October 15, 2009
Updated: October 15, 2009
TIVERTON, R.I.—An off-duty firefighter who died during a water rescue more than a year ago in Tiverton was reportedly drunk at the time.
Gerald Leduc, 52, had a blood alcohol level of 0.25, according to a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health investigation.
The study also found he ignored two colleagues who urged him not to dive.
LeDuc was searching for a boater missing on Stafford Pond last August.
Although he had an underlying cardiac condition, the medical examiner found that “acute intoxication” contributed to his death.
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the problem here is a bunch of stupid people looking down thier nose at someone that was a Hero to everyone involved. I wonder what the headline would have been if he managed to save a life but still lost his own? With all the welfare receipient’s, illegal alians on medicaid working under the table why worry if this family is collecting a pension or life insurance. what he did was admirable. Its tragic he lost his life doing what came natural to him; saving or trying to save someone else. It’s too bad Channel 10 choose to report this tid bit of useless information~bottom line it doesn’t bring either of these men back and it doesn’t make anyone feel any better that he died
he should have done what everyone else would have done. dial 911. Instead tring to be a hero and get yourself killed.
Seriously…is this the issue? Paying a pension or life insurance?? This is a family man, who was nearby and tried to help. Should he have stood on the shore? Watched a drowning man? Heard cries for help?
Familiarize yourself with the accident…the boater had a heart attack and drowned, the firefighter had a heart attack and lost his life. A complete tragedy for everyone involved. Ask yourself, if you were the boater or their family watching them drown…would you want Gerald Leduc to try and save you? I know I would…because he had been drinking on a sunday with friends-does this really minimize what he tried to do, or that he lost his life trying to save another? Policemen and Firefighters put their lives on the line every single day…why tarnish this man?
did they change the headline???? 
I hope this tragic incident can be understood and prevented from happening again
So let me get this straight. The guy was 3x over the legal limit and jumped into help. What happens when the guy with 3x’s the legal limit jumps into help and ends up killing him because he is to drunk to save him. Thats ok too. What then?
on a death cert if shows the cause of death then on the bottom it has underlying causes. Did it say alcohol was the cause of death??? i think not. It was a heart condition if i remember correctly. So no it doesn’t make a difference with the insurance. Suicides are where the insurance companies do not want to pay. Again i’m not understanding this… its our business why????? And i don’t believe anyone is right or wrong here.. we’re just all expressing our opinions. right?
So what Red or Ama this man didn’t kill anyone. He tried to save someone. Ama if anyone tries to stop this family from collecting his life insurance then there is something very wrong with this State. If that happens I hope the family SUES whoever they have to. Do you forget we have a retired Providence cop in jail for MURDER and his family still receives his pension. Give it a break. He was trying to help not hurt anyone.
fyi-a .25 blood alcohol level does not mean “a few beers.“ generally, one “drink” raises your level .02%—this can be more or less depending on weight, etc. If we assume this man was “average,“ he would have to consume an entire 12 pack…within a short time, since your body can supposedly “process” one drink per hour. This isn’t an instance of a guy having 2 or 3 beers at a bbq, this was hardcore drinking.
it does matter if the town has to pay out a life insurance policy on him.
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