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

DATE: MONDAY, September 4, 1995                   TAG: 9509060042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

MAN LEAPS OFF BRIDGE TO SAVE FIANCEE'S PET

Johnny Johnson Jr. didn't even stop to think before taking a 50-foot dive off a bridge to save his fiancee's dog.

``Animals are like your children. I just flipped off my flip-flops and dove in,'' he said.

He and Lisha Lee stopped their car on the James River Bridge on Saturday while the span opened to let a boat pass, then got out with her 5-year-old miniature collie, Cosmo.

Cosmo tried to jump up on the railing, but sailed right over.

Johnson swam to the dog but had to release Cosmo after a few minutes: ``He was pushing me under trying to get on my head.''

They floated downstream for about 15 minutes before a passing boat fished them out, Lee said.

Lee, who plans to marry Johnson next year, said she wished she could thank the people who pulled her loved ones from the river.

- Associated Press

by CNB