Norman A. MacNeil, 18, schoolboy, saved C. Wilma, 16, and M. Florence Gillis, 17, from drowning, Iona, Nova Scotia, February 9, 1943. While skating on Little Bras d’Or Lake, Wilma and Florence and MacNeil’s 16-year-old sister broke through the ice into water 10 feet deep at a point 175 feet from shore. All got hold of the edge. Unsafe ice extended 75 feet from the hole toward shore. MacNeil, who was skating within 60 feet of shore, because he thought the ice unsafe beyond that limit, skated to within a foot of the hole. Bracing himself, he pulled his sister out of the water; and she crawled to shore. MacNeil then skated close to Wilma. As he began to pull her out, the ice broke; and he slid into the water. He released her as he fell, and she again got hold of the ice. MacNeil climbed onto the ice and pulled Wilma onto it. He then skated to Florence and pulled her onto the ice. The three walked eight feet shoreward, MacNeil supporting the girls. The ice then broke under them, but all got hold of it. MacNeil climbed out, pulled Wilma and then Florence onto the ice, and supported them as they walked to shore. 40134-3361
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