Another Hudson River rescue, and more

Another Hudson River rescue

New York City officials are hailing an unemployed computer consultant who dove into the frigid Hudson River to save a woman from drowning. Eric Pienaar was walking his dog when he spotted the woman sobbing at the Battery Park promenade in lower Manhattan. Pienaar tried to console her for half an hour, but she kept saying she wanted to kill herself, and eventually jumped over the railing. Pienaar, a certified scuba diver, followed her into the icy currents, grabbed her, and clung with her to the sea wall. “There was no way we were going to get out,” he said. “It was just too high.” He screamed for help, and rescue workers fished them both out of the water. The woman, who was not identified, is said to be doing fine.

Freedom Rider receives apology 48 years later

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In 1961, Elwin Wilson was part of a racist mob that beat Freedom Rider John Lewis in a whites-only waiting room in a South Carolina bus station, leaving him bloodied on the ground. Last week, 48 years later, Wilson traveled to Capitol Hill to apologize to Lewis, who is now a congressman from Georgia. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you then,” said Wilson. “It’s okay,” said Lewis, embracing him. “I forgive you.” For years, Wilson said, he wanted to atone. But only after Barack Obama’s inauguration did he find the strength to come forward. “I want to love people regardless of what color,” he said. To which Lewis responded, “Good to see you, my friend.”

Deer checks into veterinary clinic

Animals don’t normally check into veterinary clinics by themselves. But that’s pretty much what happened in Rossford, Ohio, last week, when a deer with a badly gashed and bleeding left leg bounded into a PetSmart pet products shop. Dr. Agustin Cuesta, the store’s vet, gave the deer an anesthetic, electrolytes, and antibiotics, and closed the wounds with dissolvable stitches. After the deer was treated, it got to its feet and ran away. “Of all the places to run into,” said store manager Trudi Urie. “If it would have went into a Bass Pro, it would have been a different story.”