It was 1980. Nancy and her fiancé, Earl Higgins, were taking a walk across a footbridge that spanned the river. It had been the first clear day after a series of violent rain storms. The river was high and moving fast a rare sight in L.A. They stopped to look at the water and saw to their horror a young boy had just fallen in. Earl ran to the water’s edge and tried to save him. He did, but was pulled in, too. Earl wasn’t able to save himself. No one else could, either.

For the next 30 years, Nancy dedicated herself to creating a Swift Water Rescue Program for L.A. and for all of California, a program that trains first responders in river rescue.

Despite their shared history that day on the river, Nancy never knew what happened to the boy, James. It would be 30 years before they were reunited.

Nancy created the Drowning Support Network as “a peer support group for people who have lost loved ones in drownings or other aquatic accidents, including when no physical remains have been recovered, or the recovery process has been lengthy and difficult.”

Photoslideshow of their reunion