David Webb, 12, schoolboy, saved Michele R. Schadt, 3, from drowning, Sea Bright, New Jersey, August 31, 1954. While playing on a pier damaged by a recent hurricane, Michele dropped through a hole in the planking into deep water in the Shrewsbury River. She was submerged briefly and drifted in a current of about two m.p.h. The calls for help of Michele’s brother and another boy attracted David, who was at the outer end of a pier 120 feet farther downstream. Diving from the pier, David swam 30 feet cross current with difficulty and intercepted Michele 60 feet from the bank after she had drifted 80 feet. He took hold of Michele, towed her 40 feet to the pier rising a foot and a half above water, and lifted her to a man standing on the pier. She then was semiconscious. David, who was carried beneath the pier, submerged to avoid striking his head on boards eight inches above the water and rose two feet beyond the pier. He swam 75 feet to wadable water and continued to the bank. Michele was revived. David was tired and winded but recovered. 43270-3959
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43270-3959