Karen F. Feltz, 26, newspaper carrier, helped to save John W. Fischer, 20, carpenter, and Olen R. McNeal, 48, final product inspector, from drowning, Tarpon Springs, Florida, December 17, 1968. When part of a bridge over the Anclote River collapsed, the sedan containing Fischer and McNeal fell into water 30 feet deep 90 feet from the bank. Fischer sustained a broken leg and was knocked unconscious. McNeal suffered chest injuries but got out of the sedan and clung to the end of a collapsed span which rose two feet above the water. Learning that a man was in the sinking automobile, Miss Feltz entered the water from the bank opposite the vehicle. The sedan sank completely before she reached it; but Fischer, who had revived, surfaced 90 feet from the bank. Miss Feltz swam to him and thrust him 10 feet to the span to which McNeal was holding. She then moved to McNeal, who was complaining of chest pains, and aided him in holding to the span. Her pleas for assistance were ignored until a police officer arrived and swam to the span. Firemen reached the scene and threw a rope into the water. By it Fischer was pulled to the bank. Miss Feltz then also was drawn to the bank by means of the rope; but because of McNeal’s chest injuries, the policeman waited with him until a boat arrived. Fischer and McNeal were hospitalized. They recovered.
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