THOUSAND OAKS : 2 Teens Honored for Heroics in River

Two teen-agers who saved the life of one of their fellow white-water rafters last summer received a national Boy Scouts award in a ceremony Tuesday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

John Deirmendjian, 19, of Westlake Village, and Steven Parle, 18, of Agoura Hills, received the Boy Scouts’Medal of Heroism for their efforts on the Stanislaus River near Yosemite last July.

The teen-agers, varsity football players at Agoura High School, plucked Parle’s sister Stephanie, 16, out of the water after their guide lost control of their raft in the rapids, ejecting three of the boat’s six passengers.

Stephanie said she was being sucked into a whirlpool swirling beneath the raft, which had wrapped around some debris.

“If they hadn’t been there to get me out, I would have gone underneath the raft,” Stephanie said. “The guide was the only one who had a knife to cut through the bottom of the raft, and he had floated downstream after another girl.”

The group eventually made it to safety when people on shore guided the raft in with a rope.

Parle, who recently earned Eagle Scout ranking, said he was just using the lifesaving skills he had learned as a Boy Scout.

“Anyone in my position would have done what I did,” Parle said. “You see someone in trouble and you try to help.”

Deirmendjian’s father, Vic, said his son has a history of saving lives. Five years ago, he pulled his 2-year-old brother out of the family’s Jacuzzi after a baby-sitter had left him unattended.

“If it weren’t for John, we would have lost little Ryan,” Vic Deirmendjian said.

What impressed Conejo Valley Boy Scouts official Phil Bailey was the teen-agers’ modesty. The former chairman of the Conejo Valley district said he found out about the incident when it was mentioned briefly in Parle’s Eagle Scout application earlier this year. After reading a description of it in the application, Bailey said he decided to nominate the Scouts through the national headquarters.

“I’ve been in Scouting for 55 years, and I’ve never nominated anyone for this award,” Bailey said. “These boys were in a very dangerous situation on that raft.”

The Thousand Oaks City Council also commended the college-bound students at Tuesday’s ceremony. Deirmendjian plans to attend Ricks College in Idaho in the fall. Parle will attend the University of Utah.