Charles E. Osborne, 49, laborer, saved Patricia V. McCafferty, 16 months, from drowning, Yuma, Arizona, January 30, 1949. An outboard motor-boat in which Patricia, her parents, and another man and woman were riding on the Colorado River swamped and capsized 45 feet from the bank in cold muddy water eight feet deep and drifted in a current of three miles an hour with only the forward half of the boat out of water. The man and woman clung to the boat. Patricia’s mother swam toward the bank and was drowned. Patricia’s father supported Patricia and drifted near the boat. The man, who was a good swimmer, swam to them and took Patricia from her tather, who sank and was drowned. The man towed Patricia to the boat and placed her on the bottom. Osborne dived from the bank and swam 47 feet across the current to the boat, having in mind to guide it toward an island. Feeling cramps in his legs, Osborne feared to remain much longer in the water. Thinking the man and woman could cling to the boat until picked up, Osborne decided to swim to the bank with Patricia, who was unconscious. He pulled her off the boat and towed her 110 feet with the current to the bank, where he and another man revived her. Osborne was tired and chilled and suffered cramps in his legs. He and Patricia recovered. The man and woman at the boat were picked up by a motor-boat much farther downstream.
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