Kevin D. Scheirer saved Alex and Giovanni Porres and Rodolfo Colón from drowning, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, July 21, 2002. Alex, 12, was wading in the Delaware River when he entered a section of deeper water. Then at a point about 50 feet from the bank, he had difficulty swimming and cried out for help. Although he was a nonswimmer, his father, Porres, 36, responded to his aid, but he too encountered difficulty in the deep water. A member of their party, Colón, 27, who was Alex’s uncle, then responded and attempted to aid Porres, but a struggle ensued between them. Scheirer, 20, canoe service driver, was floating off the bank upstream. Alerted by the commotion, he swam to the scene, where he grasped Alex. He swam Alex toward the bank, handed him over to a family member, then turned and swam out to Porres. Scheirer grasped Porres, swam to the bank with him, and helped him from the river. Although he was tired by then, Scheirer re-entered the river and swam to Colón, who was submerging at a point farther from the bank than Alex and his father had been. Scheirer submerged, surfaced with Colón, and swam to the bank with him, then took him from the river. Porres and Colón were given oxygen at the scene, and Colón was taken to a hospital for treatment of having nearly drowned. They recovered.
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