A Joyful Reunion After Near Drowning

Holding onto Slaughter was no easy task. Lipscomb, who weighs about 135 pounds, tried to pull Slaughter, 50 pounds heavier, out of the channel. But he did not have the strength to lift him and his heavy wool coat out. Lipscomb held onto Slaughter even as his hands became numb from the cold water, he said.

Slaughter's head fell below the water twice, but Lipscomb held on tightly to Slaughter's arm and told him not to give up, both men said. "I think that's what saved him," Lipscomb said.

Kelley and Butler alerted officers that a man had fallen into the water in the 1100 block of Maine Avenue. Officer Hilliard Dean of the D.C. police harbor patrol quickly arrived, and the two homeless men hoisted Dean over the fence so he could aid Slaughter, Dean said.

Dean and Lipscomb each grabbed one of Slaughter's arms and tugged him out of the water. Hypothermia had set in.

Lipscomb's mother said yesterday that she learned about her son's good deed on the TV news Tuesday night. "I'm proud of him," she said. "I'm glad he was able to help."

Slaughter, who hopes to be released from the hospital soon, said he is looking for meaning in his near-death experience.

"I don't believe in coincidences in life," he said. "I'm sure there's a message in this somewhere."

Lipscomb, who grew up in Northeast Washington, simply said he was "in the right place at the right time."

"I was meant to save that man's life," he said. "I was raised to give a hand if you can. I gave two hands that night."