Walter Norris Stiles, 52, biochemist, saved Joseph C. Troy, Jr., 16, school-boy, from drowning, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, July 25, 1936. While swimming in water 20 feet deep in Buzzards Bay, Joseph was carried under the surface by a shark at a point 350 feet from shore. Stiles was swimming within six feet of Joseph. Calling “Shark, bring your boat” to a man in a sail-boat moored 150 feet farther from shore, Stiles trod water and looked over the water for sharks, his understanding being that they swam in pairs. Within 20 seconds Joseph rose, his leg having been bitten from the hip to the knee; but Stiles did not know of this injury. Stiles swam a stroke or two to him, noted he had an expression of agony, and asked him whether he could put his hands on Stiles’s shoulders. Joseph said “No.” Stiles then locked his arm in Joseph’s, yelled again to the man, and swam toward the boat. In the meantime the man had entered the tender of his boat; and he rowed to Stiles and Joseph, reaching them in two minutes. Stiles took hold of the boat, and the man pulled Joseph into it. Stiles climbed in without aid. About that time a shark appeared headed toward the side of the boat but swerved and disappeared beneath the surface at a point three feet from the boat. The man rowed to shore. Joseph lapsed into unconsciousness and was removed to a hospital. Three hours later, while his leg was being amputated, he died.
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