Dona A. Miller saved Lloyd C. Lium from drowning, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, April 22, 1961. Lloyd, 8, who could not swim, fell 70 feet from atop a very steep cliff and landed in the Chippewa River, where he floated inert in water 25 feet deep as the strong current carried him downstream toward the open gates of a dam. Water temperature was 40 degrees. Mrs. Miller, 29, homemaker, was attracted and from the top of the cliff saw Lloyd in the water. She jumped and slid down the cliff, grasping brush at times to slow her hazardous descent. Near the bottom she slid off the almost vertical rock base and dropped 10 feet into the cold water, where she was submerged briefly. Mrs. Miller, a poor swimmer, then swam 15 feet to Lloyd, grasped him by his belt, and towed him 12 feet across the current to the base of the cliff. Unable to climb out or to secure footing in the deep water, she clung to a ledge and held Lloyd, who began to revive. By shouting Mrs. Miller attracted the attention of some men in a motorboat. They helped her and Lloyd aboard and took them to a Ianding. Both Mrs. Miller and Lloyd escaped serious injury.
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