Joseph A. Demers, 24, truck driver, saved Timothy J. Beary, 4, and Mark R. Miner, 6, from drowning, Lynn, Massachusetts, March 17, 1966. Timothy and Mark, neither of whom could swim, walked onto unsafe ice on a pond, broke through 40 feet from the bank, and were submerged briefly in water seven feet deep. Mark grasped the ice and held to it, but Timothy went under again and remained submerged. Demers saw the boys break through and ran to the bank opposite the hole, where there was a small area of open water at a culvert. Without delaying to remove any of his clothing, Demers jumped into the water and moved to the edge of the ice. With his fists he began breaking a path in the ice. Reaching unwadable water, he then supported himself on the ice while extending the path to the hole. Mark still was holding to the edge of the ice. Demers made a surface dive and saw Timothy floating just beneath the ice three feet from the hole. With all of his body beneath the ice, Demers secured a hold on Timothy. He returned to the hole and raised Timothy’s head above the surface. Timothy began crying. Demers then took hold of Mark with his free arm. The weight of the two boys and his inability to use his arms to swim forced Demers under water. Standing on the bottom, he held both boys above the surface. Demers waded toward the bank about three steps before his head was above water. He continued to the bank, handed Mark and Timothy to two men there, and climbed out of the water.
48675-5187