Austin Michael Stahly

Austin Michael Stahly helped to save a boy from drowning, Sodus, Michigan, June 19, 2020. An 8-year-old boy, who entered the St. Joseph River near where his party had anchored a boat at the end of an island, struggled to swim in the swift current, as did a man who left the boat in an attempt to save him. Alerted while camping with his friend near a beach downstream, Stahly, 30, manager, swam out to the boy, who climbed onto his back and held tightly to his neck. As Stahly swam with the boy, who was panicked, toward the beach, he began to have difficulty remaining above the surface as his friend searched for the man, who had submerged and did not resurface. While the boy remained on Stahly’s back, the friend swam to them, ultimately tucking a life jacket he had collected from the water between Stahly and the boy to help them float. Stahly and the friend advanced into wadable water and brought the boy to safety at the beach. The man was found two days later; he had drowned.