Michel A. Coutu attempted to save Guy J. Gareau from drowning, Hawkesbury, Ontario, May 27, 1973. When a motorcycle accident on a bridge resulted in his clothing being set afire, Guy, 16, jumped into the Ottawa River. Coutu, 28, Canadian Armed Forces captain, saw Guy, who had been badly burned, submerging intermittently in deep water as the current carried him downstream. Removing his shoes, Coutu jumped from the bridge into the water below. After being submerged deeply, he surfaced and swam downstream but could not find Guy, who had disappeared beneath the surface. Coutu was about 200 feet from the bridge when a man arrived in a motorboat and took him aboard. They made a futile search for Guy, whose body later was recovered.
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