Karyn B. Schlachter helped to save Herman E. Townsend from drowning, Niagara Falls, Ontario, August 14, 1992. In diving gear, Townsend, 42, called for help as he was being carried downstream in the Niagara River, toward Horseshoe Falls, by the river’s very swift current. Miss Schlachter, 28, teacher, who was riding a bicycle along the river, heard him and went to the river bank. After running along the bank and calling to Townsend to reassure him as he started to swim in, Miss Schlachter partially disrobed, entered the river, and swam to him. Once she reached Townsend, she extended her hand to him, and he took it; she then started to swim back to the bank with him, the current steadily pulling them farther downstream. A firefighter who had responded to the scene also entered the water, and he aided in taking Townsend to the bank.
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