Percy Allen Brown saved Walter D. Wick, helped to save Helen I. Parris, and attempted to save John R. Parris, Sr., and Marjory I. Wick from drowning, Victoria, British Columbia, March 13, 1971. When his 40-foot boat capsized in very rough water in the Juan De Fuca Strait, Wick, 40, fisherman, telephoned for help for himself, his wife, 42, Parris, 49, banker, and the latter’s wife, also 49. Learning of the situation, Brown, 55, marina operator, launched a 12-foot wooden boat with an outboard motor and proceeded to the area, where waves were as much as 10 feet high. On the way he frequently had to clear the boat’s propeller, and once the motor stalled briefly. Brown found the four people, who had left the boat and become separated, in the cold water generally 2,000 feet from shore. As Brown threw a rope to Wick, the only one of the persons not inert, a wave lifted the boat and then dropped it forcibly to the surface. Wick was taken aboard the boat with some difficulty. Brown then piloted the craft, which had shipped water, to Parris and took him aboard. After the boat had moved to the two women, a helicopter arrived. With difficulty because the waves continually raised and lowered the boat, Mrs. Parris, Mrs. Wick, and Parris were taken aboard the aircraft and then transferred to a hospital. Although a log damaged his boat’s throttle, Brown took Wick to shore. Parris and Mrs. Wick were dead on arrival at the hospital; Mrs. Parris and Wick recovered after treatment.
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