James E. Fell saved Nancy J. Bagley from drowning, Holliday, Utah, June 5, 1933. Nancy, 8, fell from a footbridge into very cold water 10 feet deep in Big Cottonwood River and drifted in a current of 3 m.p.h. toward a reservoir in which the water was 20 feet deep. Boulders in the river churned the water. Fell, 19, caretaker, who was fully clothed, dived from the bank of the river and swam toward Nancy but was unable to get hold of her, and he swam back to the bank. He then ran to a bridge that spanned the river at the mouth of the reservoir. In the meantime, Nancy drifted into the reservoir. Fell dived from the bridge into turbulent water and tried to swim toward her but was carried by the current to the bank. He then swam 65 feet to Nancy, who had drifted 100 feet in the reservoir and was midway between banks that rose vertically six feet from the water. Supporting Nancy, who was unconscious, Fell swam 65 feet and then got footing on a submerged sandbar that was three feet from the bank of the reservoir. When one end of a rope was thrown to Fell, he tied it around Nancy, and she was drawn upon the bank. Fell then swam 80 feet to a spillway and climbed out of the water. Nancy was revived.
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