Melody Suzanne Killen helped to save Nicole C. Claybaugh and three other teen-age girls from drowning, Ocean Park, Washington, July 30, 1989. Nicole, 13, and three other 13-year-old girls were in wadable water of the Pacific Ocean when a strong current took them away from shore into water over their heads. They called for help. Mrs. Killen, 29, child care provider, who was at the beach with her children, waded and swam to the girls. After a brief struggle with Nicole, during which Mrs. Killen was submerged, Mrs. Killen offered the girls advice as to how best to swim ashore, and she encouraged them as they attempted to do so. They made some progress, but the current prevailed and took them farther out. Arriving volunteer firemen swam a line out to them and pulled Mrs. Killen and three of the girls in, the fourth having been aided by another rescuer. All four girls were treated for mild hypothermia at the hospital. Mrs. Killen was hospitalized two days for hypothermia and an irregular heartbeat; she recovered.
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