I don't feel any differently. Both underscore the mailman's point:

Sometimes you just have to act.

A lot of situations get more dangerous than they needed to be because people don't act - don't want to make a scene, don't want to make a mistake. It's always worth checking out whether something is wrong.

A lot of situations get more dangerous than they needed to be because people don't act

True, but when it comes to drowning, you have to be careful. He was lucky that the woman drowning didn't end up pulling him under and drowning them both.

Doesn't change my feelings about the first article. She may well not have actually been drowning, but it's still good (if risky) to rescue someone who is in difficulties in the water.

Yeah, in lifeguard training we learned that while we of course are trying to save lives, we also need to prevent ourselves from becoming victims by, say, extending a leg or branch instead of swimming out and getting sucked down by a panicked victim.

However, if you're willing to risk your own life for that of another person, that's what you do. An offshore issue is different than being near the shore, and some people would be more willing to save a kid than an adult. There's just no accounting for how your brain works in that situation.

I guess I'm the only one whose hink-o-meter went off. Oh well.

He was lucky that the woman drowning didn't end up pulling him under and drowning them both.

But it wasn't a full-grown woman; it was a 13 year-old girl. The second article warns about the dangers of rescuing drowning adults, but the implication is that a smaller, weaker person would pose much less of a risk to the untrained rescuer.

True, I didn't see that part. Although I can't imagine how he did either- she was almost 70 feet away and totally underwater.

Just to be clear: I thought the first article was over-dramatic and sentimental, with some glossing over of detail, but reading the second article didn't change my view :)

Memory Valentine is an awesome name.

No hikies here, but I'm really glad I read the second article a few days ago. Good info.

My only thought was it was a good thing the mailman didn't read that second article or he might have thought the girl in the water wasn't drowning, and she obviously was.

I was at the beach about 10 years ago with my family and my daughter's bf. Daughter and bf swam about 100 yds out to a sand bar, and were standing on it. My son, who was about 10 at the time, wanted to check it out and swam out too. I was standing half a football field away from him, on the beach, and there was a lifeguard sitting right in front of where the three of them were. I was far away because I made them trudge down to where the lifeguard was on duty so they could be watched, while I looked for shells with my husband.

It was very obvious to me that my son was starting to drown. The current was against him, and he was getting tired. He was less than 15 feet from my daughter and her bf, and they just stood on the sand bar and casually watched him, and had no idea he was struggling. The lifeguard didn't either. I kept thinking...no, I'm imagining this, he's ok. But he kept swimming and paddling and wasn't getting any closer to the sand bar. So I turned and said to my husband, "I think he's drowning. Please go right now." (my husband is a much better swimmer than I am), and he ran and swam, and he grabbed my son, who kept pulling him under in a panic, just like the girl did to the mailman. I get sick every time I think of how he was drowning while a bunch of people were absent-mindedly watching him and no one noticed. My son was drowning in the style described in the second article....all of his energies were going towards trying to make it to that sand bar and staying above the water. He didn't cry out for help or flail or anything. He was just too tired to keep going.

he joined the swim team at school the next year and now lifeguards in the summer

WELL I THINK HE'S A BIG PHONY!!!!

On preview: The mailman, not iconomy's son, who I'm sure is pure awesomeness.

It could just be the gushing, high-school-newspaper style of the piece, but I'm uncomfortably cynical about it. The only 'sources' are the manager of an apartment complex and a coworker? No comments from witnesses of his three life-saving events, or family members, or police/paramedics? And after having read the article about how drowning people don't really flail and scream, well... just call me raised-eyebrow-puppie.

Just wondered if anyone else would have the same reaction. I'm glad no one did. It sucks to doubt heroism.

Well I'm the world's most gullible Pollyanna, so you could be right about the bullshit quotient of the article, raised-eyebrow-puppie ;)

mudpuppie, for me, the key bit from the second article is:

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Aquatic distress might well be processed as drowning by the person experiencing it, especially since most of us only have the movies and TV to go on to understand what drowning is like.

When I was about seven or eight, my mom had to grab me out of a swimming pool because I slipped just past the shallow end going after a ball, panicked when I couldn't get my feet on the bottom, and couldn't do much more than thrash around, going under repeatedly, for what seemed like a terrifying long time. I might not have been drowning at that point, but I was beyond being able to get myself out of the situation and my mom's attentiveness kept it from going from bad to worse. Sounds to me like that's at least what McVay accomplished.

I thought the AP article was really badly written puff piece, but it didn't set off my fraudometer.

Coooeee ... Lovely day, in't it!

True, but when it comes to drowning, you have to be careful. He was lucky that the woman drowning didn't end up pulling him under and drowning them both.

I know, I worked as a lifeguard for 7 years at summer camp. But the drowning article does mention that and talks about alternatives to going in after the person. It's the last resort, always, and this girl acted like most people in distress act.

the implication is that a smaller, weaker person would pose much less of a risk to the untrained rescuer.

And that is the implication but even that is false. Except for maybe very little kids. Even a small child - 5, 6 years old - will respond instinctively by clamping onto a rescuer and often actually climbing up your body to try to get to the highest spot. It doesn't seem like it would be a big deal given your relative size, but it is. You can't swim well because they unbalance you, and you can't move your arms properly. They often wrap their arms around your neck and lock down - impeding your own breathing. Their fingers can be in your eyes or mouth gripping at you, and if you have long hair, well that's an awesome thing to grab - not only does it hurt, it limits your head movement. They literally cling to you with a death grip. If you're not expecting this it can really screw up your rescue attempt. We actually practiced this in training with the trainer mimicking the activity of a drowning person, and I pulled a couple kids in distress out of the water and experienced their superhuman fright response myself. Yikes!

I must admit that I have no lifesaving skills, but I do prefer someone who acts when they see someone else in trouble. So if this mailman has done half what the first article says, at least his attitude is what it should be.

We could all probably use more training and education on spotting other people in trouble and helping. I appreciated the second article as I learned a lot.

I'm still bothered by this past weekend -- I heard a little boy crying his eyes out, and saw him sitting in a child seat in the back of an SUV. I walked over to make sure the windows were open enough to ventilate and keep the SUV from being too hot, and saw there was another, slightly older little boy also sitting in the back seat. No adult in sight. I asked them if they were OK. The older boy said yes. The younger boy stopped crying as if a switch had flipped. I asked again if they were sure they were OK, and the older boy said yes. So I left them again and got into my car and went.

I've been thinking about them ever since. I wish I'd called mall security or someone.

OK. When you're screaming and flailing, you're about to drown. When you're not, you're drowning.

I don't see a big difference. Either way, you sure need help.

While reading the first article, I spent the entire time thinking that I'm really glad that man is not my mail carrier, because he seems to have a really bad effect on the people around him. That's a lot of accidents to witness.