Stanley C. Switala saved a young man from a perilous fall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 18, 1971. A young man climbed onto the main cable of a suspension bridge and began ascending it while holding to guide cables at each side. Switala, 18, plasterer’s helper, feared the man would fall to his death. He followed and overtook the man when they were 60 feet above the surface of the bridge and 150 feet above railroad tracks beneath it. Putting his arms around the man’s waist, Switala held him despite his squirming. A policeman started to ascend the cable; and firemen arrived and raised a ladder to a position in front of the young man, who had continued struggling. While maintaining his own balance on the cable, Switala had to support the man’s weight as well. By the time the policeman and a fireman arrived, Switala’s legs had begun to ache. A harness with a rope attached was put on the man, who again began wriggling while Switala and the others were taking him down the sloping cable. After the man had been calmed, they then continued to the bridge level without further incident.
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