Wayne Davis, 22, plumber, saved Lynn B. Evenson, 16, schoolboy, and attempted to save others from drowning, Pocatello, Idaho, February 10, 1958. At night the two-door sedan in which Evenson was riding with six other youths struck a street barrier and landed upside down in the Portneuf River almost completely submerged. Evenson, a poor swimmer, made his way to the surface and then began drifting downstream, struggling to stay afloat but steadily becoming weaker. Davis, whose right foot recently had been fractured and still was tender, was attracted and, removing only his shirt, plunged into the near-freezing water. Impeded by his heavy shoes, he swam 65 feet with difficulty and overtook Evenson, who by then was inert, in water seven feet deep 25 feet from the bank. Davis supported Evenson with both hands and swam with effort 20 feet toward the bank, propelling himself only with his legs. Gasping for breath, he secured footing on the muddy bottom and aided Evenson to the bank, where he revived. Having learned from another youth who also had escaped from the sunken vehicle that others still were inside, Davis ran 125 feet along the bank and then waded 18 feet to the sedan, where the water was six feet deep. He submerged himself and through an open window obtained a hold on one of the girls but could not move her. Two other men also reached the sedan, and all three then made unsuccessful attempts to remove the trapped occupants. Police, firemen, and others arrived and with a hoist removed the sedan from the river. The five occupants, a boy and four girls, could not be revived. Evenson and Davis were tired and cold. They recovered
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