Thelma Ruth Massey, 20, student, saved Robert J. Crotty, 8, from drowning, Windsor, Vermont, March 20, 1931. Robert and another small boy descended a snowbank that sloped downward at an angle of 45 degrees to the surface of Mill Brook and fell into the water, which was 12 feet deep. The base of the snowbank rested on thin ice and extended six to eight feet out to open water that extended 25 feet farther from the bank. Miss Massey, who was not robust and was recuperating from an operation, descended several flights of steps to the ground and ran 300 feet to a point on the bank near the two boys, spraining her ankle on the way. Fully clothed, she jumped into the water, took hold of Robert, and swam five feet to the snowbank. A man soon arrived at the bank and took Robert. Miss Massey tried to climb out, but the snow gave way under her grasp, and the man pulled her out of the water. She was numb and lay on the bank in an exhausted condition but soon recovered.
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