Robert Sumter Black, 19, student, saved Manna Lou Hamilton, 10, from drowning, Laguna Beach, California, July 29, 1931. While swimming in the Pacific Ocean, Manna Lou was carried out by heavy undertow and in rough water to a point 300 feet from shore. Noting that other persons did nothing to aid her, Black, who was a fair swimmer and who knew that lifeguards had prohibited bathing because of the roughness of the water, waded from shore and swam 250 feet to her. Manna Lou seized him around the neck, and they were briefly submerged. Black broke her hold and tried to swim with her, but she again seized him about the neck, and they were submerged. Black broke her hold and swam to the surface with Manna Lou, who was then unconscious. He was gasping for breath. Black turned her on her back and, towing her by the hair, swam 250 feet to wadable water, where he collapsed. A man waded to them and aided Black to his feet and carried Manna Lou to shore, where she was revived. 32297-2743
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