Reno man hailed as hero for saving boy from drowning

RENO (AP) - A Reno man is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of a 10-year-old boy who nearly drowned in the Truckee River last month.

The city council honored Jeff Gasper with a fire chief's commendation on Wednesday.

The 57-year-old print shop worker says he was downtown on Sept. 11 when he heard a woman scream and saw a child in the river near Wingfield Park. He jumped in the water, swam through the rapids under a bridge and pulled the boy to safety.

Fire Chief Michael Fernandez says if not for Gasper, the child "certainly would have perished." Gasper says the boy told him, "Mister, I almost died."