David William Ransom saved Debra R. Hutchison from suffocation, Follansbee, West Virginia, December 20, 1980. Debra, 13, lay in a smoke-filled, second-floor bedroom of her burning house. After two men tried unsuccessfully to remove her, Ransom, 33, telephone company maintenance supervisor, scaled a ladder to a window of the bedroom. Despite dense smoke, which prohibited visibility, Ransom entered the room, and after several attempts, located Debra and dragged her back to the window. She was taken down the ladder to safety and treated for smoke inhalation, as was Ransom. Both recovered.
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