John Aaron Relick helped to save Ruth A. Ansel from burning, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, August 30, 2003. Ms. Ansel, 48, was the driver of a pickup truck that, in an accident at night, left the roadway and struck a large tree. Unconscious, she lay face down inside the vehicle. Relick, 34, glassworker, who lived at the scene, responded to the truck along with his father. They attempted to open its doors but found them jammed shut. When fire then erupted in the truck’s engine area, Relick used two extinguishers against the flames but to little effect. Fire spread suddenly to the passenger side of the pickup. Relick’s father, meanwhile, succeeded in opening the driver’s door after much struggle. He reached inside the pickup and pulled Ms. Ansel onto the driver’s seat. One of her feet remained caught between the pedals, and he worked to free it. Relick then responded to the driver’s door. He and his father dragged Ms. Ansel from the pickup and to safety moments before another burst of flames at the truck, which was destroyed by the accident and fire. Ms. Ansel required hospitalization for treatment of injuries received during the crash.
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