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Face of Defense: Airman, Friends Rescue Drowning Girl

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An airman and two of his friends helped to save a young girl from drowning at Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, May 13.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard Penny, Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw sit on a rock bank on Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, June 28, 2018, where they had saved a young girl from drowning earlier that year. Penny, Staley and Bradshaw rescued the girl from drowning near the rock bank on May 13, 2018 and received the Hampton, Virginia, Citizen Lifesaving certificate June 7, 2018. Penny works as the 633rd Air Base Wing Inspector General management internal control toolset administrator and special access program manager. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Leclerec)
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard Penny, Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw sit on a rock bank on Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, June 28, 2018. The threesome saved a young girl from drowning in the same area on May 13. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Leclerec
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard Penny, Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw sit on a rock bank on Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, June 28, 2018, where they had saved a young girl from drowning earlier that year. Penny, Staley and Bradshaw rescued the girl from drowning near the rock bank on May 13, 2018 and received the Hampton, Virginia, Citizen Lifesaving certificate June 7, 2018. Penny works as the 633rd Air Base Wing Inspector General management internal control toolset administrator and special access program manager. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Leclerec)
JBLE Airman helps save drowning girl
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Richard Penny, Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw sit on a rock bank on Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, June 28, 2018. The threesome saved a young girl from drowning in the same area on May 13. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Leclerec
Photo By: Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Lec
VIRIN: 180628-F-ML658-1064

When medical services arrived, they found a young girl that had been rescued from the water and was in her mother’s arms. The 9 year old had gone swimming. The current took her into deeper waters where she could no longer stand and was getting closer to the rocks.

“My friend got up and said, ‘That little girl is in the water,’” said Air Force Tech Sgt. Richard Penny, a toolset administrator with the 633rd Air Base Wing Inspector General’s office here.

It was at that moment that Penny, along with his friends Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw, sprang into action.

At first, Penny and his friends couldn’t locate the girl. He remembers getting to the top of the rocks and seeing her in the water.

Rescue

“Then we heard her mom come sprinting and shouting, ‘Help my daughter! She can’t swim and I can’t, either,’” Penny said.

Penny and Staley started climbing down the sharp-slippery rocks until they reached what they thought was shallow water.

“We weren't expecting the water to be so deep that close to the rocks, but it was over our heads,” Penny said.

Soon after, Bradshaw arrived after swimming around the rocks in search for the girl, and helped to bring her back to the edge of the rocks.

“At this point, the water was just beating us against the rocks,” Penny said. “The water was just crazy. It was really, really rough that day.”

After getting the little girl and Staley out of the water, Penny and Bradshaw were met by friends that helped to get them out of the water.

Penny, Staley and Bradshaw each earned a citizen lifesaving certificate, and they’ll receive a medal at a later date from the Hampton, Virginia, Division of Fire and Rescue.

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