Edward Lee Shofner died helping to rescue Joseph A. Crnkovich from a cave-in, Louisville, Kentucky, March 10, 1970. Crnkovich, 24, carpenter’s helper, was in an excavation 15 feet deep when sandy subsoil at one side gave way and trapped him at a wooden wall, the dirt rising to his waist. Shofner, 38, construction foreman, entered the excavation and began digging with his hands to remove the soil from around Crnkovich while other workmen dug from the opposite side of the slide. The topsoil overhang left by the cave-in then broke off and started another slide. Hearing a shout of warning, the other men moved to behind the wall; but Shofner was unable to do so and was thrown against the wall by the sliding earth. Severely injured, he was covered by the soil except for a small part of one shoulder. While workmen were freeing Crnkovich, who had been covered to his armpits by the second slide but was uninjured, others discovered Shofner’s shoulder protruding from the dirt and quickly uncovered his head. He was unconscious. Although a resuscitator was applied to him while he was being freed from the sandy soil, Shofner could not be revived.
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