William S. Metcalf attempted to help save Victor R. Hall from drowning, Port Alberni, British Columbia, May 4, 1974. Thrown into the Swamp River when his canoe overturned, Hall, 56, became caught in a whirlpool current and could not get to the bank. Metcalf, 34, and another man entered the cold water to give aid. They swam into the whirlpool area but by that time Hall had disappeared beneath the surface . He drowned. Metcalf and the other man could not escape from the current of the whirlpool. A man on the bank threw out a rope and pulled Metcalf to safety. The rope was again thrown out; but the other man, apparently too weak to reach it, sank and drowned.
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