Brian A. Murphy, Sr., saved Catherine A. Stewart from burning, Moundsville, West Virginia, May 19, 1992. Miss Stewart, 74, who was confined to a wheelchair, was in the kitchen of her second-floor apartment when fire erupted in another room at night. A relative living with her attempted unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire, then alerted Murphy, 32, automobile mechanic, who lived in a first-floor apartment. Murphy immediately ran upstairs to Miss Stewart’s apartment, where dense smoke impeded visibility, and, guided only by the sound of her voice, located her, then took her to the top of the stairs. Requiring air, Murphy ran downstairs to breathe. Her returned to Miss Stewart and pulled her down the stairs to safety, then ran back to his apartment to tend to his own family. Miss Stewart required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation, from which she recovered.
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