Marcia Jean Walton, 14, schoolgirl, saved Charles P. Walsh, 6, from drowning, Manomet, Massachusetts, August 12, 1958. When he fell from an inflated rubber raft which he had paddled to 130 feet from shore at Manomet Beach, Charles was submerged briefly in water 10 feet deep. Unable to swim, he flailed his arms in an effort to remain afloat and called for help as the raft drifted away from him. Marcia ran 300 feet to the water’s edge. She waded 15 feet and then swam a 115 feet to where Charles again had sunk, his head 18 inches below the surface. Treading water, Marcia reached down into the water, grasped Charles, and drew him to the surface. He squirmed in her grasp, coughing and expelling water. After calming him, Marcia drew Charles onto his back, placed her arm across his chest, and began towing him toward the beach. Waves a foot high, caused by a speedboat passing 300 feet away, washed over their heads; and Marcia’s legs brushed a submerged rock projection as she passed over it. She towed Charles a total of a 115 feet and, somewhat winded, secured footing in water four feet deep. A woman waded into the water and took Charles, who then was inert, from Marcia. With Marcia following, the woman carried Charles to the beach, where he was revived
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