Kenneth MacLaughlin saved Archelaus J. Edwards from drowning, Baldwinsville, New York, July 5, 1936. While swimming in the Seneca River, Edwards, 21, waiter, was seized with cramp at a point 55 feet from the bank, where the water was 15 feet deep. His stepfather swam to him. Edwards threw both arms around his stepfather’s neck, and both were submerged briefly. MacLaughlin, 19, salesman, waded and then swam 40 feet to them, reaching Edwards’s stepfather from the rear, and pushed him under the surface; and Edwards released his hold. MacLaughlin then struck Edwards on the forehead with his fist and tried to shove Edwards farther from him. Edwards grabbed MacLaughlin’s hand with both hands, and both were submerged. Under water MacLaughlin freed his hand, took hold of Edwards under his chin, swam to the surface, and towed Edwards 15 feet toward the bank. Edwards then tried to take hold of him, but MacLaughlin changed his hold to Edwards’s bathing-suit at the back and swam 25 feet to wadable water within 10 feet of the bank. Meanwhile Edwards’s stepfather rose to the surface and swam toward the bank, overtaking them in wadable water; and he and another man aided MacLaughlin in taking Edwards to the bank.
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