Patrick Nolan Mccarty

Patrick Nolan McCarty saved Raecyne W. Bechtold and helped to save Arnetta D. Johnson from drowning, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, June 26, 2017. At a bridge pier in the middle of the swift-flowing, swollen Youghiogheny River, Johnson, 55, partially submerged, clutched an overturned raft pinned by current against the pier as Bechtold, 45, lay atop it. With a 20-foot waterfall downstream, they tenuously held on amid the cold, fast current while onlookers called for help. Alerted by the emergency response to the scene, McCarty, 29, whitewater rafting business executive director, and another man collected single-person kayaks and launched them without standard safety gear. As the other man arrived at the pier, Johnson grasped onto his kayak; the raft dislodged and floated free with Bechtold. While the other man towed Johnson downstream to an exposed rock ledge, McCarty paddled ahead of the raft and used his kayak to alter the raft’s course and speed, and guide it to the bank, where Bechtold reached safety. McCarty then paddled to the ledge. After securing Johnson with a rope and abandoning the kayaks, McCarty and the man waded with her toward the near bank, where others also helped her from the water. Johnson and Bechtold declined medical treatment for minor injuries. 89908-10062

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