[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 44 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COMMENDING CHASITY SNYDER

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                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 10, 2000

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, today I commend the courageous acts of 
Chasity Snyder, a heroine from Lima, OH. Her extraordinary act of 
bravery can serve as an inspiration to us all.

                 [From People Magazine, March 27, 2000]

                              Small Marvel

       Afloat on her Yellow Jacket, Chas Snyder, 11, saves a pair 
     of canoeists in peril.
       It was one of those delightfully warm days that can fool 
     the winter-weary into thinking the worst is over. So in Lima, 
     Ohio, homemaker Cherie Snyder took her daughter Chasity, 11, 
     down to the reservoir on March 6 to see if they could hook a 
     few fish. Meanwhile, James H. Moore Sr., 36, a delivery 
     driver, and Aaron Schafer, 22, a roofer, had already launched 
     Moore's newly patched canoe on a test run. But the two men 
     were about 25 yards from shore when the canoe started to 
     roll. They jumped--without life jackets--into water so frigid 
     that swimming was nearly impossible. Spotting the men 
     struggling, Snyder, 30, waded in to try to save them, but 
     quickly retreated because of the cold.
       That's when Chas sprang into action. ``I said, `Chas, no!' 
     '' recalls her mother. But Chas shouted, ``Mom, I have to! 
     I've got to do something!'' and then shed her yellow winter 
     jacket and leaped in. Using the jacket as a flotation device 
     she paddled out to Moore, who had slipped below the surface, 
     and dragged him to where he could touch bottom. ``I had 
     floaties when I was little,'' says Chas, and explains that 
     the jacket looked similar. Chas then helped Lynn Wallace, 41, 
     who was on an afternoon walk, rescue Schafer. ``If that 
     little girl hadn't been there,'' Moore says of Chas, ``I 
     would be in the funeral home.''
       Back home after the rescue, Chas, who lives with Cherie and 
     her four siblings, says she never doubted she could help the 
     men: ``My guardian angel and God gave me courage and told me 
     I could do it and nothing would happen to me.''

     

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