LEWISTON — Three boys are being credited with saving a 72-year-old man’s life and even being recommended for a city award.

Lewiston police Sgt. Michael Whalen said Austin and Tyler Davis, ages 13 and 14, and Billy Sheperson, 13, found the injured man trapped between a boulder and fence behind Tri-County Mental Health Services at 230 Bartlett St. The boys were walking along a narrow path that runs along the fence behind the building when they discovered Lewis Osgood, 72, injured and trapped.

“If those kids hadn’t found him — and there’s no school tomorrow — that guy could have been there another day,” said Matt Theriault, a property owner in the Bartlett neighborhood who was working up the street. “Nobody would have heard him yelling back there.”

The boys found Osgood at about 4:34 p.m. Sunday and immediately ran and alerted adults in the neighborhood who called emergency crews and then helped free Osgood.

Theriault, who helped with the rescue effort, said crews had to cut out a portion of the steel fencing behind Tri-County in order to free Osgood, who was wedged between the fence and the large rock. Theriault said it appeared as though Osgood slipped and became lodged in an area under the rock and between the fence.

Whalen said Osgood was reported missing Friday night from a local boarding house on Bradley Street operated by Rafts Inc. He said the boys were being submitted for an award for helping Osgood.

Whalen said the Lewiston Fire Department arrived on scene within minutes and helped dislodge Osgood, who was then taken to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. Osgood’s condition was not available Sunday night.

“Given that it’s a three-day weekend, there’s very little traffic in that parking lot,” Whalen said. “Those three boys did the smart thing. They went for help. Their parents should be proud of them. They did a very good thing.”

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