Merrill Lynn Mathews, 21, harbor master, died helping to save Sandra L. Jones, 15, schoolgirl, from drowning, Provo, Utah, June 27, 1964. While swinging on a rope attached to a tree beside the Provo River, Miss Jones, who could not swim, lost her hold and fell into the water, where she was sub- merged briefly. She flailed wildly as she was carried into swift water 10 feet deep at midstream 25 feet from the banks. Mathews and two other men were attracted and ran 300 feet to the bank as Miss Jones drifted downstream, submerging intermittently. Breathing heavily from running, Mathews entered the cold water fully clothed. After swimming 35 feet he reached Miss Jones, who grasped his shoulders and tried to climb onto him. He urged her to be calm, but she continued struggling and caused them to be submerged briefly twice as Mathews moved her toward the bank. She then placed her arms around his neck, and they were submerged again. They surfaced eight feet from one of the other men who was trying to swim to them with a log. Mathews called for help. Miss Jones again grasped him a round the neck, and they were submerged 20 feet from the bank. Another man arrived in a rowboat as Miss Jones rose to the surface inert. The men lifted her into the boat. When Mathews did not reappear, they took Miss Jones to the bank, where she was revived. Divers later recovered the body of Mathews.
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