Barbara Ann Kopp, 14, schoolgirl, rescued Stephen M. Reese, 5, from a runaway horse, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1957. Stephen, who was being taken for a horseback ride, was in the saddle when his 15-year-old sister slipped and fell as she attempted to mount, her foot striking the horse and causing it to run away at full gallop in a street in a residential area. Miss Kopp, who was on her own horse nearby, started in pursuit as Stephen clung to the saddle horn and screamed. Ignoring stop signs at the intersections, Miss Kopp kept her horse on the earthen shoulder of the roadway for better footing, the horse’s shoes sliding on the pavement each time she swerved to avoid automobiles. Continuing the pursuit along a through highway, she crossed the roadway through openings in the heavy traffic and moved onto the earthen shoulder, where she gradually overtook the runaway. Miss Kopp approached the right side of the runaway horse and saw that its rein had been broken off. Traveling at approximately 25 miles an hour alongside the runaway, Miss Kopp removed one foot from the stirrup and leaned from the saddle. She grasped Stephen’s arm with her left hand and, nearly falling from her horse, lifted him from the runaway horse onto her own. She then pulled up her horse after having ridden in pursuit more than a half a mile. Stephen and Miss Kopp escaped injury.
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