As a Young Woman, She Saved Multiple Lives
Even though Ida Lewis did a great job of keeping the lights on every night, there is still always the chance that human error can end in disaster. For years, Ida saved men’s lives without getting very much public recognition for it, until one of her rescues finally made it into the national news.
In the winter of 1877, a small sailboat was carrying two soldiers, Sergeant James Adams and Private John McLaughlin. They were on their way back to the nearby Fort Adams. A 14-year old boy who owned the boat claimed to be experienced in sailing, and he agreed to transport the two soldiers to the fort in the middle of a snow storm. The blizzard was so intense, they ended up crashing into the side of Lime Rock Island.
When the crash happened, Ida Lewis was standing in her home wearing her nightgown with bare feet. She was already sick with a cold, too. But when she saw the crash, she did not hesitate even a moment to get shoes on. She knew that in the freezing water, she had very little time to swim out and rescue three men. After they were rescued, they were brought inside of the house to warm up by the fire and change out of their clothes. Unfortunately, since her immune system was already weak when she jumped in the frozen water, Ida contracted an infection in her nose and throat called diphtheria.
The soldiers at Fort Adams were all so grateful to this young woman who saved their leaders, that they all gathered money together and gave Ida Lewis $218 and a golden watch as a token of their appreciation. She also got a gold medal for bravery. The money was used to help take care of her medical expenses, and she was able to recover from diptheria.
That same year, her mother spotted a man drowning near the island, and she saved him, as well. It turns out that the lone man was a boat thief, and he was being hasty and reckless, which is why he crashed. A couple years later, she saved two more soldiers from Fort Adams who had attempted to walk across the frozen ice and fell into the water. Again and again, Ida Lewis was proving that she was a hero.