UNSEEN SWIMMER
The following true story was sent to us by the Reverend Dr. I. Ross Bartlett of St. Andrews By-The- Lake United Church in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Bartlett knows Billy McCormick and has seen the Royal Lifesaving Parchment awarded to Billy by the Queen Mother for his act of heroism. Here is the account: One summer’s day, Billy McCormick, some friends, and their wives were picnicking on a beach on Ireland’s east coast. A woman came running along the shore shouting that a man was drowning. As it happened, Billy had completed all of the degrees of the royal life saving course and could swim quite well, something very rare in that area, where even the many fishermen did not learn to swim. He dashed down the beach and came to the place opposite where the man was floundering in the water. Billy stripped off his clothes and dove in. In a few minutes Billy reached the man and saw that he…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
