Kujtime Ajro helped to save a boy from drowning, Mount Vernon, Iowa, June 19, 2011. A 9-year-old boy and his younger brother were wading in the Cedar River close to the bank when they lost their footing and were pulled farther out and downstream by a strong current. A friend of the boys’ family, Ajro, 29, homemaker, was in their party at the scene. She immediately entered the water and swam out to the boys, who were then struggling against a fisherman who also swam out in a rescue attempt. Ajro took the older boy from the fisherman and, supporting him, attempted to return him to the bank, but that boy struggled against her as they were pulled farther downstream. Meanwhile, a woman from another party at the scene responded to the bank. Seeing that Ajro was having difficulty with the older boy, she entered the river and swam to them. Taking the boy from Ajro, she swam him to the bank, and then, with a makeshift flotation device, she returned to Ajro and took her to safety. Ajro, who had swallowed water and was nearly exhausted, required hospital treatment for having nearly drowned, and she recovered. The younger boy was rescued by a man from another party at the scene, but the fisherman submerged and drowned.
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