Catherine W. Furlong, 25, bookkeeper, helped to save Ethel V. Von Poellnitz, 11, and John C. Flanagan, 11, from drowning, Moultrieville, South Carolina, August 28, 1930. While Ethel and John were jumping waves in the Atlantic Ocean off Sullivans Island, they were carried by a current into deep water 175 feet from shore. Miss Furlong, who weighed little more than Ethel or John, swam 35 feet to them, grasped one with each hand, and tried to push them toward the shore as she trod water, but they drifted 15 feet farther out. Her strength began to fail, and alternately she allowed one of the children to drag below the surface while she held up the other. Carlisle S. Lentz swam close to her, and she pushed Ethel to him. Supporting her, Lentz swam to a woman, who took Ethel to the shore. Fearing she was about to collapse, Miss Furlong released John, and Lentz swam back to John and took him to wadable water. John, who was unconscious, was taken to the shore by others and revived. After releasing John, Miss Furlong drifted 35 feet farther out as she floated to regain her strength. She then started to swim to shore, and a man who was a strong swimmer reached her and aided her to swim to wadable water.
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