Death
On June 5, 1960, Stitch went fishing with Bud Bruner, Bruner's son, and Charles Oliver, a friend. They were fishing on a rock shelf below the McAlpine Locks and Dam when Oliver slipped. He grabbed Stitch, and they both went into the Ohio River. As he was swimming back to shore, Stitch heard Oliver yelling and went back to get him. Stitch and Oliver, both weighed downed by heavy waders and coats, disappeared in the turbulent water. Their bodies were found by the Coast Guard hours later.
Stitch died the day before he was to sign for a rematch with Luis Manuel Rodriguez. The fight would have taken place on July 24, 1960.
Rodriguez fought former World Welterweight Champion Virgil Akins in Louisville, Kentucky on July 6, 1960, with 35% of the gross going to Stitch's window and six children. Bud Bruner accepted an invitation to act as one of Akins' seconds.
The month following Stitch's death, the National Boxing Association announced the creation of the Rudell Stitch Sportsmanship Award, which would be presented annually to the professional boxer who displayed the most sportsmanship in and out of the ring.
For his tremendous sacrifice, Stitch posthumously received another medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund. Only three other people have received two Carnegie Hero Fund medals.
Read more about this topic: Rudell Stitch
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“And of the other things death is a new office building filled with modern furniture,
A wise thing, but which has no purpose for us.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.”
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