David C. Daniels attempted to rescue Fred H. Maroney from electric shock, Huttig, Arkansas, January 24, 1963. While a crane mounted on the bed of a truck was being used to lift the cab assembly of a bulldozer back onto its tractor, Maroney, 52, construction foreman, in guiding the cab into place grasped a chain which encircled it and was attached to a metal hook on a steel cable suspended from the crane’s boom. The boom brushed an overhead high-tension power line, which was uninsulated; and sparks appeared at the point of contact and at the chain where Maroney held it. Maroney slumped unconscious against the tractor, still grasping the chain and with both feet on the ground. Daniels, 52, heavy equipment operator, whose attire included gloves and galoshes, ran to behind Maroney and reached toward him. Just then the boom swayed and again brushed the electric line. After drawing back briefly, Daniels then grasped Maroney by the shoulders and momentarily experienced a slight shock. He pulled on Maroney, breaking the latter’s hold on the chain. As Daniels dragged Maroney away from the tractor, the boom brushed the line several more times. A doctor arrived and pronounced Maroney dead. Although the rubber around the buckles of his galoshes had melted, Daniels sustained no burns.
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