Ralph Barrett, aged 13, rescued a friend who fell through the ice on the Hillsborough River on 23 January 1975. The boys were skating across the river when the surface gave way under the friend's weight, and he fell into water several feet deep. When he tried to lift himself on to the ice it broke away, and he was finally obliged to float on his back. Ralph in the meantime had crawled to the edge of the hole. He reached out to his friend but failed to grasp him. Stretched out on the ice, the rescuer extended his jacket to him. The boy managed to grasp a sleeve and was then carefully hauled out of the water.