Rebecka Blackburn

Rebecka Blackburn helped to save an unidentified man from drowning, Devon, Alberta, June 20, 2018. A man who had entered the cold, swift water of the North Saskatchewan River was carried downstream by its current and waved his arms in apparent distress. Blackburn, 18, college student, who was on the riverbank and observed the man struggling in the 500-foot-wide river, entered the water with another woman and swam toward him. Blackburn swam downstream at an angle toward the man and nearly reached him as he submerged. Blackburn dived beneath the water to retrieve him and, grasping his waist, brought him to the surface. She began to tow the man toward the riverbank but en route experienced fatigue and called out to the other woman to help her. The other woman joined Blackburn and the man, and they grasped hold of him. Blackburn and the woman, swimming on their backs, towed the man to shallow water, from which they all waded to shore. Blackburn was cold and sore after the rescue; she recovered.