Forrest Lee Dyal, Jr., saved Jean E. Cofer from drowning, St. Simons Island, Georgia, May 4, 1936. Jean, 9, fell from a pier in the Atlantic Ocean and drifted in a current of two m.p.h. parallel with the shore to a point 270 feet from shore and 20 feet from the end of the pier, where the water was 16 feet deep. Dyal, 15, school-boy, who was clothed, dived from the pier, took hold of her hair, and swam and drifted 10 feet. A man then swam to them from the pier, and Dyal and the man tried to swim toward the pier but slowly drifted away from it. Feeling need of rest, Dyal asked the man to hold Jean a moment; but the man left them and swam to shore. Holding Jean across her chest, Dyal headed toward shore. Twice Jean grabbed Dyal around the neck, but he let himself sink momentarily, and Jean released him. After swimming and drifting 270 feet, Dyal got footing. A man then carried Jean to shore; and Dyal, who was fatigued and somewhat nauseated, followed him.
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