John E. Greene, 25, salesman, saved Harry Wood, 66, shoe company vice president, from being killed by a train, Floral Park, New York, January 26, 1957. At night while Wood and his wife were walking on a railroad crossing, Wood’s foot slipped into a crevice beside a rail of a track on which a train approached at a speed of 60 m.p.h. Wood’s wife attempted to aid him in freeing his foot, which remained wedged against the rail, and screamed for help. Greene ran 275 feet and reached Wood as the train was 1,500 feet away. The trainmen did not see the persons on the track until it was too late to apply emergency brakes, and the train continued at unreduced speed. After unsuccessfully attempting to free Wood, Greene grasped him about the chest from behind when the train was 600 feet away. With his feet astride the rail, Greene pulled Wood to an almost prone position and gave a violent jerk, freeing Wood’s foot. The force of the pull caused Wood to swing against his wife, who still was on the track; and all three persons stumbled from the path of the train, which was 75 feet away from them. Greene, who was nearest the track, was two feet from the train as it passed without stopping. Wood’s foot was bruised. Both he and Greene were extremely nervous but recovered. 44032-4115
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44032-4115