Leonard Terry helped to save a girl from drowning, Charlotte, North Carolina, January 12, 2010. A 9-year-old girl walked onto the ice of a partially frozen pond at an apartment complex and broke through at a point about 60 feet from the nearer bank. Terry, 25, had been watching her from his nearby apartment. He immediately ran to the pond and then, although he could not swim, walked across the ice toward her. Nearing the open water, he extended a hand to the girl, but then he broke through the ice. He submerged completely, and when he surfaced, the girl clung to his back as he trod water, submerging repeatedly, and called for help. Another man who lived nearby arrived and made his way across the ice to the open water. He managed to get the girl onto solid ice, and she made her way to safety, but he broke through himself and entered the frigid water. The other man then supported Terry against the solid ice as they awaited help. Arriving fire personnel used ropes and a ladder to pull Terry, and then the other man, from the open water and across the ice to safety. The girl was taken to the hospital, as were Terry and the other man, Terry requiring treatment for hypothermia. He recovered.
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