Wilbur Davis Bailey, 21, student, saved Frances E. Cummings, 27, from drowning, Mercer, Tennessee, August 16, 1956. While floating in wadable water over a sandbar in the Hatchie River, Mrs. Cummings drifted into water eight feet deep and was submerged briefly when she tried to swim upstream to the bar. She called for help. Her sister-in-law and Bailey, who were bathing on the sandbar, swam 10 feet to her; but the girl returned to the bar after Mrs. Cummings tried to seize her. Mrs. Cummings sank beneath the surface. Bailey submerged, took hold of her legs, and thrust her back to the surface. He maintained his hold on her legs and began to walk along the river bottom toward the bar, but Mrs. Cummings floundered and kicked his head. Bailey surfaced and called for help from a man on the bank, but the man could not swim. At that time Mrs. Cummings seized Bailey and they were submerged, but Bailey was able to break her hold. They surfaced separately twenty feet from the bar, where Bailey succeeded in calming Mrs. Cummings. They then placed an arm around each other’s waist; and Bailey towed Mrs. Cummings, who did not struggle further, 60 feet diagonally across the current to shallow water, where he aided her six feet to the bank. Mrs. Cummings was nearly exhausted and badly winded. Bailey was tired. Both recovered. 43933-4107
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