Barbara Joann Burkett

Barbara Joann Burkett, 13, schoolgirl, saved Ruth C. Rizzo, 29, from drowning, Elsinore, California, June 9, 1946. Mrs. Rizzo, who could not swim, fell from a surfboard into water 20 feet deep in Lake Elsinore 300 feet from shore, and the board drifted away from her. Barbara swam 235 feet to Mrs. Rizzo and pulled her to the surface. Mrs. Rizzo got on Barbara’s back, and in a prolonged struggle they were three times submerged. A man in a kayak then reached them and extended a paddle to Barbara, who with Mrs. Rizzo clinging to her was pulled alongside. While a girl who had swum to the opposite side of the kayak held it steady, Barbara took hold of the kayak; and she and Mrs. Rizzo, who still clung to her, were towed to wadable water.