Joseph P. Todd saved Robyne L. Hanley from drowning, Lakefield, Ontario, February 7, 1996. In icy and foggy conditions at night, the vehicle that Robyne, 16, was driving along the Otonabee River left the roadway, entered the frigid water, and began to submerge as it was carried away by a very swift current. Robyne escaped the vehicle, then held to the edge of a shelf of ice that extended about 70 feet into the river from the bank. Approaching on the same road in his truck, Todd, 34, auto glass shop manager, saw the submerging vehicle, then saw and heard Robyne clinging to the ice. Obtaining two boards and a length of chain from his truck, Todd walked across the ice toward Robyne. Nearing her, he positioned himself atop the boards to distribute his weight, then used his hands to continue forward. Closer to Robyne, he threw one end of the chain to her. After repeated attempts, she grasped it, and Todd pulled her out of the open water. Todd dragged her across the ice to the bank, then aided her to his truck. Robyne was hospitalized a day for treatment of hypothermia, from which she recovered.
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