Todd Allen Brill saved Paulette A. and Sheila J. Whiter from drowning, Elkhart, Indiana, October 21, 1987. Paulette, 19, and her mother, Sheila, 40, were trapped in their vehicle after it left the highway and submerged upside down in the St. Joseph River. Brill, 24, assembly line worker, saw the accident from his home nearby and ran to the scene. He dived into the river, which was murky and cold, swam about 35 feet to the vehicle, and opened its rear door. Entering the vehicle twice to his waist, Brill located Paulette and pulled her out, then took her to the bank. Learning that Paulette’s mother was still inside, Brill went back to the vehicle, entered it twice more, and, after locating the mother, who was unconscious and who outweighed Brill, pulled her out. He then waded to shore, towing her. Paulette and her mother, who sustained broken bones, required hospital treatment, and they recovered.
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