Christopher Oikle saved Jared Champigny from drowning, Warren, New Hampshire, August 5, 2003. While on an outing with family and friends along a secluded section of the Baker River, Jared, 13, jumped from a boulder into a pool of the river and became caught in the turbulent water there. The river was cold, swollen due to recent rains, and swift through the rocky gorge in which the pool was located. Nearby, Oikle, 21, dredge operator, was alerted to Jared’s plight as the adults in that party were attempting a rescue. Despite having decided not to swim at the scene that day because of the water conditions, Oikle responded to a point on a boulder adjacent the pool and jumped into the river. He swam to Jared, grasped him around the chest, and, numbing in the cold water, secured him. Oikle then lifted Jared to the end of a line that the others had dropped from atop the boulders. They pulled him from the pool, then lowered the line to Oikle and pulled him through the pool to where he could safely leave the river. Jared suffered a cut on his back but did not require medical treatment. Oikle was shaken and nearly exhausted but later recovered.
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