Donald E. McGregor, 15, schoolboy, saved Harold R. Clark, 41, attorney, and Vivian A., 47; Harold R., Jr., 7, and Christine A. Clark, 5, from drowning, Brunswick, Georgia, July 20, 1959. When their grounded sailboat began to break up in rough water in the Atlantic Ocean, the Clark family and McGregor, who had voluntarily boarded the sloop to help them, abandoned the craft. All wore life jackets, but only Clark and McGregor were good swimmers. Clark and his wife clung to the sides of a raft-type preserver three feet long and 18 inches wide, holding the children on top of it. McGregor placed around his waist the looped nylon rope attached to one end of the raft. With the Clarks aiding by kicking McGregor began towing the raft toward an island nearly two miles away as waves three feet high occasionally washed over them. McGregor watched constantly for sharks, which he knew inhabited the area. After swimming an hour with the tidal current, McGregor removed his arms from his life jacket and pushed it downward under the rope to protect him from further chafing. Opposite the end of the island, McGregor turned and with difficulty began towing the raft across the current toward shore. Two hundred and fifty feet from the island McGregor, who had towed the raft three miles while swimming for three hours, could make no further progress. At Clark’s insistence McGregor left the others and swam to the island to seek help. Although extremely tired, McGregor walked more than a mile before locating some fishermen, who said they would send help. McGregor then returned to the end of the island, where the Clarks meanwhile had succeeded in reaching shore. The Coast Guard later removed all five persons to the mainland. 44791-4344
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