Sandra MacDonald was drowned while rescuing a child from Scotch Lake near North Sydney on 20 July 1978. Mrs. MacDonald had been supervising children who were swimming, when the ten-year- old girl slipped from a shelf of rock four or five metres from shore and cried out for help. Though not a swimmer, Mrs. MacDonald at once entered the lake, seized the girl round the waist, and pushed her to safety. In so doing she lost her footing and sank below the surface. Help was summoned by the children, and she was located some fifteen minutes later. Artificial respiration was applied but she could not be revived.