MEDIA ADVISORY

When/Where: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, at approximately 7:45 p.m.; Holiday Inn Hotel St. Louis-Southwest (Viking Conference Center); 10709 Watson Rd., St. Louis, Mo., 63127

Contact: Joe Mueller, Director of Public Relations, C: (314) 603-9983, jmueller@stlbsa.org;

ST. LOUIS—A Boy Scout who rescued a man who fell through ice and into the Meramec River last year will receive a Heroism Award during a National Court of Honor Ceremony on Wednesday during the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s Friends of Scouting Kickoff Dinner. He learned how to perform a reaching rescue on ice earlier in his Scouting career.

On Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009, Joshua S. Newsham and four of his friends were walking near the Meramec River in Castlewood State Park.  They saw a dog break away from a man, run out on the ice and break through.  The dog’s owner ran out on the ice after his pet, fell through the ice and was fully immersed.  He struggled to keep his arms atop the ice as the current began to push him downstream.

Joshua ran to the water’s edge, grabbed a long stick and waded through chest-deep water to perform a reaching rescue.  After an unsuccessful attempt with the stick, he used a commando crawl to navigate the ice and reach the man.  Joshua calmed the man, grabbed him by his shirt collar with both hands and pulled him out of the water and onto the ice.  They both returned to shore. The dog was able to follow the path of broken ice and reach the shore.

Joshua, 17, is a First Class Scout in Troop 787, chartered to Carmen Trails Elementary School in the Parkway School District.  He is attending South County Technical School and majoring in the Firefighting program.