Christopher Defelice

Christopher DeFelice saved Enderson Tejada from drowning, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 7, 2011. Tejada, 20, was driving a car along the bank of the Schuylkill River when the vehicle left the roadway, went down an embankment, and entered the water. He shouted for help, saying that he could not swim, moments before the car completely submerged at a point about 30 feet from the bank. Scullers nearby on the river, including DeFelice, 32, web developer, saw the accident and rowed closer to the scene. With air temperature around 45 degrees and the water cold, DeFelice then dived from his boat and swam to where the car had submerged. Tejada surfaced but submerged again. DeFelice swam under water in that vicinity, located Tejada, and took him back to the surface. They struggled, causing both to submerge. Surfacing again and freeing himself of Tejada, DeFelice calmed Tejada and then secured a hold of him and swam to the bank, which in that vicinity was a wall. Others atop the wall pulled them from the water. Tejada required hospital treatment for hypothermia, and DeFelice was cold but not significantly injured. He recovered.