James R. Ussery, Jr., helped to save Michael E. Addler from drowning, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, August 15, 1981. Michael, 9, called for help as a strong undertow in the Atlantic Ocean carried him seaward adjacent a pier, from which Ussery, 34, carpenter, was fishing. Ussery immediately jumped 20 feet from the pier into the water, which was shallow, and struck bottom, severely injuring his legs. He seized Michael and held on to one of the pier’s pilings until those on the pier dropped lines to them and towed Michael to shore. Ussery, after being rescued by a man from shore, was hospitalized for two months for treatment of fractures of his knee and ankle and was permanently partially disabled.
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