Elnora Denmark saved L. S. Thompson, Jr., from burning, Dallas, Texas, January 1, 2004. Thompson, 79, who was unable to walk, was in bed in a bedroom at one end of his one-story house when a small airplane crashed into the house’s integral garage, which was at the opposite end. Flames broke out in the garage and grew to issue high above it. Denmark, 51, who was Thompson’s caregiver, was in the kitchen at the time of the crash and was knocked to the floor. Dazed, she regained her footing and went to the front door, which she propped open. She then turned and made her way through thick smoke and intense heat to Thompson’s bedroom as flames spread into the house. Shouting to Thompson that they had to get out of the house, Denmark placed a blanket over him, then lifted him from the bed. She carried Thompson through the house to the front door, where she was aided in getting him to safety outside. The house was destroyed in the accident and fire, which claimed the lives of the plane’s pilot and his passenger. Denmark sustained neck and back injury that required therapy.
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