Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Nathan Desjardins succumbed to injuries sustained on May 27th, 2017, in a boating accident on the Saco River.
He was participating in his first day of water rescue training when he and his training officer were dispatched to assist with the rescue of three boaters who had been thrown overboard when their canoes capsized. One of the missing boaters drowned during the incident.
Officer Desjardins' patrol boat struck a submerged object in the water as it came around a bend in the river. Both officers were thrown overboard and Officer Desjardins suffered a severe head injury.
Both officers were flown to Central Maine Medical Center where Officer Desjardins remained in a coma until succumbing to his injuries on June 6th, 2017.
Officer Desjardins served as a part-time officer with the Fryeburg Police Department for three months and was a full-time student at the University of New England.
Survivors
He is survived by his parents and brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-ME-D1FF4137- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Desjardins served with the Fryeburg Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Fryeburg community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Desjardins.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Nathan Michael Desjardins is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In ME, 41 of 102 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 40.2% of this state's fallen. That is 9.2 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Nathan Michael Desjardins's cause is highlighted.
How Nathan Michael Desjardins Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Nathan Michael Desjardins is highlighted in Jun.