Lester J. Trafford, III

Lester J. Trafford III saved Scott C. Finne and attempted to save Stian Stiansen from drowning, Hampton Bays, New York, May 12, 2013. Finne, 42, and Stiansen, 85, were aboard a 45-foot commercial fishing boat when it capsized in rough surf of the Atlantic Ocean as it approached the mouth of an inlet leading to Shinnecock Bay on Long Island. Thrown into the 51-degree water, Finne grasped debris from the boat and stayed afloat as he drifted to a point about a mile off shore. Learning of the accident by radio, Trafford, 55, captain of a 24-foot towing boat, left mooring in the bay and proceeded to the inlet. Steady and gusting winds engendered five-foot seas with waves reaching nine feet breaking in the inlet and just off its mouth as a strong ebb current was emptying the bay. Although first-responding boats turned back, Trafford proceeded through the inlet and, spotting the wreckage of the fishing boat, proceeded toward it. He searched for survivors in the debris field before being directed to Finne’s position by a responding police helicopter. Proceeding toward Finne, Trafford positioned his boat about 18 feet from him and then drew him to the boat by means of a life ring attached to a line. The men returned to the wreckage and looked for Stiansen until they were relieved by a Coast Guard vessel, and they then traversed the inlet to return to safe harbor in the bay. Finne required hospital treatment for hypothermia. Stiansen drowned.