Brent Ernest Burkett saved Angela M. Kokott from drowning, Jamestown, North Dakota, July 29, 1995. Ms. Kokott, 39, and four friends were rafting on Pipestem Creek, made swift and swollen by runoff from a nearby reservoir. As they approached a 150-foot-long concrete culvert which took the creek under a roadway, the party attempted to bank the raft but failed. All but Ms. Kokott abandoned the raft, which was then drawn into the culvert. At a point about halfway through, the raft became wedged in the narrow clearance between the surface of the water and the ceiling of the culvert. Ms. Kokott could neither dislodge the raft nor escape from it; likewise, one of her friends, who had entered the culvert for her, was unsuccessful in a rescue attempt. Ms. Kokott screamed for help. Other members of her party flagged down Burkett, 39, laborer, who was driving nearby with his family. Donning a life jacket, Burkett entered the culvert and was carried to the raft by the very swift current, but he too was unsuccessful in his rescue attempt and was washed from the culvert. Burkett made repeated trips through the culvert, during which he attempted both to dislodge and deflate the raft. On his final trip, he took a butcher knife that had been obtained and brought to the scene. He punctured the canvas raft, which deflated sufficiently to release Ms. Kokott to the water. Both Burkett and Ms. Kokott were washed from the culvert, then left the creek; they recovered from scratches and scrapes.
71092 – 8095
71092-8095