 On 7 February 1934 , Whittle was walking through University Park when he was accosted by a small boy who said that his younger brother had fallen into the lake . Rushing to the area , Whittle dived into the weed @-@ choked lake and began searching for the boy . Finding him unconscious , Whittle brought the boy to the bank and applied artificial respiration for approximately half an hour ; the child later came around and was taken to hospital . Whittle left the scene and proceeded home in a taxi without leaving his name , but his identity was subsequently discovered and he was presented with a Certificate of Merit by the Royal Life Saving Society . Whittle himself was ill for a fortnight due to swallowing some of the foul water in the ornamental lake . 
