PITTSBURGH — There's nothing quite like a spaghetti dinner to warm the hearts of two anglers meeting after one saved the other from drowning.

Guy Norelli and Jim Harrold, along with their wives, met for the first time in 2022 at the Sons and Daughters of Italy's monthly spaghetti dinner in Glassport.

They exchanged pleasantries over homemade gnocchi and cheese ravioli smothered in a special sauce.

But less than a month before, it was Norelli who first got acquainted with an unconscious Harrold after pulling him out of the Youghiogheny River.

Good rescue

They reunited again recently for an award ceremony.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bestowed Norelli and his wife, Gayla, of Glassport, with a Department of the Army Public Service Commendation Medal for extraordinary acts of bravery by citizens.

Another person involved in saving Harrold, Pedro Delgado of Greensburg, will also receive an award in the future.

"Mr. Delgado and Mr. Norelli risked their lives to save another and their quick actions embody the spirit of service the Corps of Engineers strives for daily," said Lt. Col. Daniel Tabacchi, deputy commander for the Pittsburgh District.

"Their bravery is a reminder that you don't have to wear a uniform to have courage or become a hero."

After Harrold's near drowning and an invitation from the Norellis, who operate Guy Norelli Graphics in Glassport, the two couples met at the Sons and Daughters of Italy, where Norelli, 68, is president and organizes a monthly spaghetti dinner.

Since the incident, the couples have attended festivals and events together and are making plans for the upcoming holidays.

Prelude to a tragedy

It was the Friday before Labor Day in 2022, a balmy summer day, when the Norellis took a day off to get a head start on other holiday campers and anglers.

They decided to fish at the dam outflow area of the Youghiogheny River Lake near Confluence in Somerset County. A hot spot for walleye and smallmouth bass, the area also offers year-round trout fishing.

The couple set up on the fishing pier fronted by a rocky beach. The water was loud and choppy.

"It sounded like Niagara Falls," Gayla said.

Her husband kept getting snags on his fishing line because of the current.

Gayla noticed a mounted lifesaver ring and read the Army Corps post about using it; she was getting bored because the fishing was so awful.

"Is it time to go yet?" she asked her husband.

But he wanted to stay for one more cast.

Then Gayla noticed the arrival of two new anglers. One headed toward the dam and the other, dressed in chest waders, entered the water.

"I was curious if the way he was fishing would be more successful than fishing from shore," she said.

She kept an eye on him.

A bright white light

Jim Harrold, 75, of Middlecreek, Somerset County, has been fishing since he was 6 years old.

"I fished over the years in the Yough below the dam, but was never in the pool below the dam," he said.

He arrived with a friend from Morgantown, W.Va., who he had fished with in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

The water was low in many areas, so Harrold took his friend to the outflow. When he entered the water to fish, he tried working his way across the river.

"For some unknown reason, the water was going around in the circle, counterclockwise," he said.

"I didn't realize it, but they (the Army Corps) were letting a large volume of water out for rafting for the holiday weekend," Harrold said.

The Corps regularly releases water from the flood-control dam, including that day, said Vince Klinker, resource manager for the Corps at Youghiogheny River Lake. There is signage and at least a half dozen mounted throwable life rings on site.

Harrold saw the current, but underestimated its strength.

"I'm pretty experienced in wading and that current was unbelievable.

"Every foot you went in, the velocity of the water increased. I never anticipated anything like that.

"I thought 'I should get out of this' and tried going up the bank and slipped onto my back," he said.

He tried three or four more times, but the current kept taking him deeper.

"Then I fell face down in the water and my waders filled with water," Harrold said.

He had his walking pole and tried to push himself to the bank, but he was exhausted.

"The last time I surfaced for air, I pulled myself up and it was so deep — about 20 feet of water.

"'Oh boy, this is it. It's all over, Jim,'" he said to himself.

He remembers seeing the river bottom.

"I saw this brilliant white light at the bottom of the pool. It was calming.

"My last thoughts were that my insurances were all paid up. My wife will be taken care of. The light kept getting brighter and wider. Then it stopped."

The save

Gayla glanced to check on Harrold, who was splashing and trying to regain his footing.

She yelled to her husband: "He's down. Go get him."

Norelli threw his rod down, climbed over the pier railing and carefully navigated the rocky beach to reach the water.

"I didn't have the time to be scared," he said. "You don't think — you just react."

Clad in blue jeans and boots, in he went.

By the time Norelli got to the river bank, Harrold was face down in the water, not moving and was starting to float downriver. He estimates he swam about 40 or 50 feet to reach Harrold.

"I grabbed him by his chest waders' suspenders, took him to where I could stand and flipped Jim over, then took him to shore," he said.

Meanwhile, his wife was screaming for help near the campground. Pedro Delgado, a camper, heeded the call.

She gathered more life rings as she and Delgado headed toward the water. Delgado arrived as Norelli was bringing Harrold to the river bank. He ripped the rod from Harrold's hands while Delgado pulled off his water-filled chest waders.

The rocks were too treacherous to lay Harrold down, so the men slid him onto the life rings to support his body.

"I pulled off Jim's sunglasses and his eyes were white," Norelli said.

"I don't know CPR, but God was there the whole time. Jim was not breathing so I did chest compressions.

"I said, 'You are not dying on me.' "

After about 30 seconds of chest compressions, Harrold started to moan.

"If Pedro wasn't there to help, Harrold could have died," Norelli said.

He was taken by medical helicopter to a local hospital.

The recovery

When Norelli returned to his vehicle, it wouldn't start. His key fob was in the pocket of his drenched jeans.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us," Norelli said. "We met some good friends and good people this time."

Harrold spent about a week in the hospital, recovering from complications. He had ingested about 30 pounds of water.

"It was a slow, steady recovery and I don't have a lot of after-effects," he said.

Harrold had no idea who had pulled him out of the water.

"I am so grateful to Guy and Gayla. I didn't realize Gayla was along the bank hollering for help.

"Guy is a hero as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't be here without him."

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