C. Richard Swenson rescued Lisa A. and Kirsten L. Ludwig respectively, from electric shock, Vaughn, Washington, July 4, 1964. When a power line carrying 7,200 volts of electricity accidentally was severed, it fell onto Lisa, 2, and Kirsten, 4, who lost consciousness and dropped to a seated position. Swenson, 18, student, saw the wire sparking at its points of contact with the girls as it extended between them two feet above the ground. He immediately sprinted between Lisa and Kirsten, dragging the power line from them but losing consciousness when his body touched it. Swenson slumped to a kneeling position beyond the two girls with the sparking wire in contact with his body and hands. Gerald M. Forrester ran to near Swenson, leaped into the air, and thrust against him with his feet. The impact knocked Swenson backward to a prone position but did not free him from the wire. Forrester obtained a pair of pruning shears which were nearby and, holding them by their wooden handles, cut the wire near Swenson. Lisa, Kirsten, and Swenson, suffering from third-degree burns, were removed to a hospital. All recovered, but Swenson’s burns resulted in the loss of one finger and part of another.
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