Claude Saunders, Jr., saved Majesta S. Tatum from being struck by a falling tree, Sweet Home, Oregon, August 11, 1990. Majesta, 4, was camping with her family in a wooded campground when suddenly, and with little warning, a nearby fir tree more than 200 feet tall began to fall toward the campsite. A member of the family’s camping party, Saunders, 26, store manager, immediately ran from his neighboring site to Majesta. He grasped her and removed her from the path of the tree but was himself struck by it before he could run to safety. Saunders was knocked to the ground by the tree, his right leg severed below the knee. Struck by branches, Majesta required hospitalization for two broken legs and other injuries. Saunders was hospitalized a month for his injuries, which included also fractures to his pelvis and both femurs and a laceration to his head.
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