Jacob Merchant rescued Keith Nellums from electric shock, Long Beach, New York, May 9, 1970. Keith, 6, was discovered in a railroad yard, lying on a track with one arm in contact with a charged rail carrying 650 volts of electricity. Merchant, 37, janitor, who with others had run to a fence surrounding the railroad yard, saw that each time Keith’s head turned toward the charged rail an electrical arc appeared between it and his face. Ignoring warnings, Merchant climbed over the fence and ran to a point alongside Keith. He grasped the boy and lifted him from contact with the charged rail, experiencing electric shock. Keith required extensive hospitalization. Both he and Merchant recovered from effects of electric shock.
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