Jackie G. Mason saved Laura J. Baker from drowning, Gila Bend, Arizona, March 19, 1988. Mrs. Baker, 73, was the passenger of a car that, in an interstate highway accident, entered the eight-foot-deep water of an irrigation canal. Having seen the accident, Mason, 46, truck driver, ran to the canal and immediately entered it as Mrs. Baker was exiting through the car’s passenger window. He grasped Mrs. Baker and held her as they were swept downstream, floundering. Although he was submerged several times, Mason calmed Mrs. Baker and helped to keep her afloat as they were carried beneath the highway. Still supporting Mrs. Baker, Mason was able to grasp the steep side of the canal and maintain a hold. Others had arrived by then and extended a length of pipe to them; as Mason pushed, Mrs. Baker was pulled out of the canal. Mason was then pulled out. Mrs. Baker required extensive hospitalization for injuries she received in the accident. Exhausted, Mason required oxygen. He recovered after resting several hours.
63439 – 7313
63439-7313