Joshua E. Huffman saved Seth L. Boroff and helped to save Judith A. Garrison from drowning, Pandora, Ohio, August 21, 2007. Seth, 11, was the passenger of a car driven by Garrison, 61, that was washed from a flooded roadway into an adjacent low-lying field, which also was flooded. They escaped the car through a window, the extremely swift current in the floodwater carrying the vehicle a few hundred feet into the field. Garrison held to the car, but Seth, separated from it, was washed farther downstream, or to a point nearly opposite the house belonging to Huffman, 32, construction project manager, who was working outside. Alerted to the accident by a witness, Huffman ran to the flooded field and, removing his shoes, waded a few feet into the water. He then swam to Seth, who was about 150 feet out. Huffman held the boy to his chest with one arm as he swam back to the edge of the water with the other. Having learned from Seth that Garrison had also been in the car, Huffman ran about 250 feet on an exposed stretch of land to a point opposite Garrison, who was struggling to stay afloat. By then, the car was submerged. Although very tired, he re-entered the floodwater and swam about 100 feet to Garrison. Huffman grasped her and, treading water, supported her as responding firefighters launched a boat and made their way out to them. They returned Garrison and Huffman to higher ground. Seth and Garrison were taken to the hospital, but they were not injured. Huffman was tired after the rescue and quickly recovered.
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