Two Ohio Girl Scouts receive award for helping save young girls’ life
By Danielle Dindak
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FINNEYTOWN, Ohio (WLWT) — A pair of southern Ohio Girl Scouts received a rare award for saving a young person’s life.
On Tuesday, fourth graders Lucy Sanders and Maddalyn Hill were recognized for their heroic efforts at the Springfield Township Board of Trustees meeting and received the Girl Scouts’ Medal of Honor.
The heroic act happened during a troop field trip in Toledo. When the girls visited the hotel pool, they noticed another younger girl struggling to stay afloat in the deep end. Sanders and Hill worked together and brought the drowning girl to safety.
They credited their heroic deed with what they learned at the Springfield Township Fire Department’s summer youth camp.
“We were swimming, and I saw a girl drowning,” Sanders said. “I just jumped in, grabbed her, and pulled her to the edge.”
The Finneytown Elementary students never hesitated when it came to the rescue.
“I reached my arm out to help her,” Hill said.
Troop leader and Sanders’ mom Nicole was at the pool that August day. She says she was going to jump in the pool to help, but her daughter was already springing into action.
“I was in tears, crying, and happy,” Nicole Sanders said. “I was amazed that my kid could do something like that. I’m thrilled I have such a great troop that can work together.”
The Girl Scouts’ Medal of Honor is for bravery beyond what is expected of a Girl Scout. It is the highest award to achieve and only an honor a few receive.
According to Arrianne Bryum with Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, the last award has not been given in more than 13 years.
“It’s not very often,” Bryum said. “There is an application process through the national office, but they have to be nominated, and then there is a committee that reviews all the different factors that go into a situation.”
The fourth graders’ new hardware is only outshined by their bright smiles and brighter futures.
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