Jim B. Kollath helped attempt to save Cecil L. Collette from drowning, Duluth, Minnesota, August 15, 1993. Cecil, 13, was caught in turbulent water in a narrow section of Miller Creek lined by steep, rock walls. Drops in the creek’s bed and runoff from heavy rain, swelling the stream, created a swift current. Cecil called for help. From a point on the bank nearby, Kollath, 23, immediately entered the creek and went to Cecil. Kollath, Cecil, and a friend of Kollath’s who also had entered the creek in a rescue attempt struggled together against the turbulent water to secure themselves. Kollath grasped both his friend and Cecil and held them until the current separated them and took Cecil and the friend downstream, to where the creek widened and its depth diminished. Cecil exited the creek on his own, but Kollath’s friend drowned. Tiring, Kollath clung to a wall of the creek until another man entered and secured him. Firefighters who arrived shortly lowered a rope to them and rescued both.
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