David Lee Custer helped to save Evan J. Moody from burning, Canaan, Maine, September 3, 2003. Evan, 3, was the passenger of a car that left the roadway, went part way down an embankment, and came to rest on its passenger side against small trees, flames breaking out at its front end. Evan remained restrained in a safety seat in the back-seat area, and his mother, who was the driver, was trapped in the front-seat area. A man who lived nearby mounted the vehicle, opened the driver’s door, and pulled Evan’s mother out. Flagged down while passing by, Custer, 45, courier, had responded to the car by then, and he too mounted its driver’s side, where he held the driver’s door open while the other man worked to free Evan from inside the car. Despite growing flames and intensifying smoke in the car’s interior, Custer entered the car partially and also worked to free Evan from his seat. Using a knife provided by a bystander, the other man cut the straps of Evan’s seat, after which Custer passed Evan outside the car to his mother. Custer then aided the other man from the car, and they, along with Evan and his mother, returned up the embankment to safety. Spreading flames virtually engulfed the car shortly. Evan and his mother were treated at the hospital for bruises, and they recovered. Custer sustained minor smoke inhalation, from which he recovered.
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