On 31 July 1975, when six persons fell overboard at Fishing Lake, Saskatchewan, nine-year-old James Piecowye towed three boys and his grandfather some hundred feet to shore. Their boat had over-turned in fifteen feet of water after one of the adults had stood up; this person was drowned and the rest of the party began to swim to shore. With James in the lead, the boys surrounded James' grandfather, James holding the man's head above water. As they neared the beach he applied artificial respiration to him but to no avail. Had it not been for James Piecowye's persistence more lives would doubtless have been lost.