Jacquline L. Johnson saved Curtis L. Minks from burning, Higginsville, Missouri, October 30, 2001. Dazed, Minks, 64, remained inside the cab of a dump truck after a highway accident in which the truck overturned onto its driver’s side, came to rest in a ditch alongside the road, and caught fire. Ms. Johnson, 39, developmental assistant, was a passenger in an approaching car that then stopped at the scene. She ran to the cab to check for occupants and saw Minks inside. Despite flames on the underside of the vehicle and inside it, on its bench seat, Ms. Johnson sat on the ground next to the broken-out windshield, reached into the cab, and grasped Minks. She started to pull him out but realized that his legs were caught. Requiring repeated attempts, Ms. Johnson freed his legs, then pulled Minks through the windshield and moved him away from the truck, the cab of which shortly supported a sudden increase of flames. Minks required overnight hospitalization for treatment of injuries sustained in the accident, and he recovered. Ms. Johnson received hospital treatment for exposure to smoke, and she sustained a sore back. She recovered.
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