It’s not unheard of for friends and family to start nonprofit organizations when a loved one passes away. It’s a way to carry on the legacy of the deceased, to ensure that their death isn’t in vain. That’s how the Manny 267 Foundation was born.

Enmanuel “Manny” Familia was a five-year veteran of the Worcester, Massachusetts, Police Department when in 2021, he jumped into a pond at Green Hill Park to save a group of teens in distress. Though two of the teens were rescued, Familia and a 14-year-old boy died during the incident. 

In the wake of this tragedy, Familia’s family started the Manny 267 Foundation, a nonprofit that provides water rescue training equipment to police departments nationwide. One of their more prominent ventures has been the Manny Tube — a grabbable flotation device that officers can easily float and throw to people who are struggling to stay above the water. 

In 2022, American Police Beat highlighted training that was being conducted by all 400 of Worcester’s officers in a YMCA pool in preparation for the day a drowning victim would need rescuing (tinyurl.com/yuz9t67j).

On September 7, that training was put to the test when firefighters and police officers roughly 50 miles away in Orange were called after a child had fallen into Millers River. The boy and his brother had been fishing when he slipped and fell into the river. When police showed up on the scene, they found the brother lying on a wall in the river, using his fishing pole to try and reach his brother. Officers on scene were able to wade into the river and use a Manny Tube to rescue the boy. The child was checked over by paramedics and didn’t require further treatment.

“We would like to note that the officers utilized the ‘Manny Tube,’ which is stored in the rear of every line cruiser owned by the Orange Police Department,” the department said on Facebook. “We can say with certainty that the officers’ response played a crucial role in the positive outcome that afternoon. Job well done!”