James J. Donahue, 15, schoolboy, saved Lee W. MacArthur, 11, from drowning, North Andover, Massachusetts, December 21, 1911. Lee and James ran onto the ice on Hodge’s Pond, but James heard the ice crack and returned to shore. Lee broke through 25 feet from the bank, where the water was 10 feet deep. James ran and crawled to Lee and seized his hand, but the ice broke and let him fall head first into the hole. Lee held to James’s clothing, and James supported Lee and himself by holding to the ice. He slipped from the ice, and both were submerged, but James rose and pulled Lee up. Lee flung his arms around James’s neck, but James continued to support him, although James was fast becoming exhausted. After persons on the bank had made a number of fruitless efforts to pull the boys out with ropes, a man broke the ice to the boys, and they were then pulled to the bank. Lee was unconscious. James was disabled for two days, but both boys recovered. 7745-1216
7745 – 1216
7745-1216