Conrad Fourney saved Sarah R. Cox from drowning, Banks, Idaho, November 26, 2006. Cox, 57, was navigating rapids in the Payette River when the bow of her kayak became pinned among rocks in the approximate center of the river. Trapped in her kayak in the rushing water, she lay partially submerged across an exposed rock as others, including her husband and members of a responding rescue squad, made repeated attempts to reach her. An expert kayaker, Fourney, 47, flooring contractor, was alerted to the situation and responded to the scene. Using a borrowed dry suit, helmet, and life jacket, he boarded an inflatable kayak and paddled to a position below Cox. When he backed the kayak to the rock on which Cox lay, Cox grasped the craft and held to it as Fourney stood and leapt to the rock. Standing, Fourney grasped Cox’s life jacket and tugged repeatedly, releasing her and her kayak. They spilled off the rock, Cox inverted in her kayak. Fourney uprighted her and accompanied her downstream to where a rescue boat took them to safety. Cox required hospital treatment for hypothermia and an aggravated shoulder injury, from which she recovered.
79962 – 9173
79962-9173