
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994                   TAG: 9401230107
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

NAVY SEAL RESCUES GIRL, 13, FROM ICY LAKE

A Navy SEAL trained for underwater action used his skills in his back yard to save a girl who fell through the ice on Lake Trashmore.

John Holcombe, 24, plunged in the lake Friday to rescue Jean L. Null, 13, who had been playing with friends on the ice.

Her friends ran for help to the nearest house - Holcombe's home at the lake's edge.

Holcombe ran to the back yard. He knew he couldn't jump in fully clothed, he said, so he stripped to his jeans, ran across the thickest ice, then went in near Null.

"I knew she didn't have much longer in that cold water," Holcombe said. "When the water's that cold, I know you've only got 10 minutes." Holcombe was in the frigid water about five minutes. Null was in about eight or nine minutes, Holcombe estimated.

Holcombe pulled the girl toward shore, breaking ice as he went. When he felt the ice was firm enough, he tossed the girl up onto it.

At that point, a passing mailman, Gary Lawson, ripped off his belt and threw it toward Null. She grabbed it and was pulled to safety. Lawson repeated the process for Holcombe.

Null and Holcombe were treated at Virginia Beach General Hospital and released.

"If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't be breathing," said the girl's mother, Deborah Perry. "She owes a lot to that guy. So do I."

by CNB