Larry G. McDermith saved Beatrice E. Hoffman from being struck by a train, Cerro Gordo, Illinois, September 7, 1967. Mrs. Roffman, 89, was walking over a railroad crossing toward which a passenger train was traveling at high speed. The train was within 600 feet of the crossing when McDermith, 19, meat cutter, saw that Mrs. Hoffman was about to move onto the track on which it was approaching. The engineer applied emergency brakes as McDermith ran toward Mrs. Hoffman, who moved onto the track, unaware of the train. McDermith ran 25 feet and reached Mrs. Hoffman in the path of the train when it was approximately 120 feet away and approaching at about 65 m.p.h. Without breaking his stride, McDermith lifted Mrs. Hoffman in his arms and ran from the track, clearing the path of the train when it was about 20 feet away. The train passed and stopped 4,000 feet beyond the crossing.
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