Nellie Mae Kitelinger saved Otto W. Whaley from drowning, Walnut Bend, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1931. While Otto, 17, schoolboy, was swimming in the Allegheny River, he suffered a sunstroke in deep water and went under the surface at a point 120 feet from the bank. Nellie, 15, schoolgirl, who was considerably smaller than Otto, swam 40 feet to him, and Otto grabbed one or both of her legs, causing her to be submerged. Pushing Otto away from her, Nellie rose to the surface, got hold of Otto by the hair, and swam and drifted 25 feet in the current. A man who had paddled a canoe from the bank then reached Nellie, and she and Otto were towed to wadable water. Otto was helped to the bank. He recovered.
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