McConnell Airman helps save 8-year-old's life

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFNS) -- A McConnell Air Force Base Airman saved an 8-year-old girl from drowning recently while on a canoeing trip with his church at the Buffalo River in Arkansas.
After spending the day navigating the river, Senior Airman Robert Fischer, a 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron pavements and equipment operator, and his group grounded their canoes on the river's banks near a bridge. Like many of the group Airmen Fischer went for a swim. While submerged, he heard Alexi Gardner's panicked screams, coming from shore.

"I popped my head up," Airman Fischer said. "I couldn't make out the sounds, but I looked over and saw Alexi struggling in panic next to the pillars of the bridge."

The river's current swept Alexi away from the shallows to the pillars of the bridge where the river gets much deeper. At the pillars, she began to panic and struggled to stay afloat.