Last October, Todd Brill was talking to his mother in the dinning room of their home, which overlooks the St. Joseph River. Through the windows he saw a truck sail over the side of the bridge and fall into the water.
Brill shouted to his mother to call for an ambulance(救护车). Before she could ask why, he was running out the door.
Without hesitating, he dived into the cold river and swam to the truck. He went under and tried to open the driver"s door, but it couldn"t move. He suced for air and again went under, this time he got the back door open. Water filled the truck, and it sank completely.
On his third dive, Todd pulled 19-year-old Paulette Whitmer to the river bank. Todd had to shake her to get her to say if there was anyone else in the truck. Yes, her mother.
Sheila Whitmer, 45, had been trying to teach her daughter to drive the truck when Paulette ran into a sign near the bridge. Instead of stopping the truck, she had panicked(惊慌), and lost control.
Again Todd swam the 30 feet and began diving. He swam to the passenger-side door, which he got open after what seemed a lifetime. Todd pulled the unconscious Sheila, whose face was bloody and bruised(瘀伤), to the riverside.
Both women, who were being treated at a hospital, would have died if it had not been for Brill"s quick response. After Paulette Whitmer was pulled out of water,_______