'You're Not Going to Die Tonight'
Homeless Man Helps Save Houseboat Resident From Drowning
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 24, 2007; Page B01
It was unlucky that William "Al" Slaughter was wearing his slick, new dress shoes as he walked on an icy dock next to his houseboat on D.C.'s Southwest waterfront Monday night.
In an instant, he skidded deep into the 38-degree water and could not hoist himself out of the Washington Channel, he said. It was 10:30, and not a soul was around to hear him cry "Help!"
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Floyd Lipscomb, who police said is homeless, tried to pull Slaughter out of the channel. But he did not have the strength to pull Slaughter and his heavy wool coat out of the water, Slaughter said last night from his room at George Washington University Hospital.
So Lipscomb held on tight to Slaughter's arm and told him: " 'You're not going to die tonight. I'm going to hold on to you. I got you,' " Slaughter said.
The two other men, also homeless, identified by police as Duke "Showtime" Kelley and DeLeon Butler, alerted officers that a man had fallen into the water in the 1100 block of Maine Avenue. Slaughter feared he might drown right next to where he lived, on a houseboat christened Finished Business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301647.html