Anthony Peterkin

Anthony Peterkin helped rescue Russell D. Cox from burning, Fayetteville, North Carolina, April 11, 2021. Cox, 88, was lying on the kitchen floor of a burning house after fire broke out at the rear of the house. A neighbor, Peterkin, 52, training technician, went to the house with his son and learned that Cox was inside. The two ran through the garage to an interior door; the son stayed at the door while Peterkin moved down a hallway and into the kitchen where he encountered flames on the floor, ceiling, and walls. Peterkin could not find Cox. Unable to breathe, he and his son exited the house. Informed that Cox was in the kitchen, Peterkin returned to the house through the garage while his son again stood at the door. Crawling, Peterkin found Cox on the kitchen floor, unconscious with flames nearby. Peterkin grasped Cox under the arms and pulled him back to the hallway, where Peterkin’s son helped him move Cox into the garage. Peterkin and his son placed Cox on a small rug and dragged Cox out of the garage and into the driveway. Cox sustained smoke inhalation and serious burns to his legs and back; he died the next day. Peterkin was hospitalized two days for smoke inhalation; he recovered.