Norma Belle Horne, 15, schoolgirl, saved J. Ivan Richard, 7, schoolboy, from drowning, Alberton, Prince Edward Island, June 16, 1957. While floating on an inflated inner tube near the bank of a tidal creek 350 feet wide, Ivan, a very poor swimmer, was carried by the current into deep water where, panic-stricken, he allowed the tube to drift downstream as he tried to stay afloat. Miss Horne was in wadable water farther downstream and heard others shouting that Ivan was in need of help. Although she had learned to swim only a year earlier and customarily had swum in water of a depth which would permit her to stand, Miss Horne swam 150 feet to where Ivan, who had submerged briefly several times, again had sunk and was floating inert just beneath the surface in water 12 feet deep. Miss Horne drew Ivan to the surface and, placing her arm around his waist, swam 75 feet toward the bank. She secured footing in water four and a half feet deep and, supporting Ivan, waded 20 feet farther. Ivan’s mother then waded into the water and aided in taking Ivan 30 feet farther to the bank. Ivan had swallowed much water; and Miss Horne was extremely nervous. They recovered.
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