John P. Kavanagh III helped to save Ella M. Bowman from drowning, High Point, North Carolina, April 16, 1993. Ms. Bowman, 62, was the driver of a station wagon that was washed from a flooded highway into an adjacent creek before dawn. Swollen by heavy rain, the creek was 12 feet deep, its current fast, and the water, muddy. Kavanagh, 37, sales manager, saw the accident and immediately waded and swam to the car. Unable to open its doors as the car began to sink nose first, Kavanagh told Ms. Bowman to get into the rear of the car. A man who then arrived at the scene obtained a hammer from a nearby residence and swam out to the car with it. After he broke the car’s rear window with the hammer, he and Kavanagh, from their perch atop the car’s submerged rear bumper, secured a hold on Ms. Bowman and, as the car submerged completely, took her back to the bank, then to the nearby house. Ms. Bowman was treated at the hospital for minor injuries, from which she recovered. Kavanagh recovered from contusions to his arms.
67691-7795John P. Kavanagh, III
New Canaan, CT