James Lonnie Hensley saved Larry R. Beavers from burning, Kimball, West Virginia, December 16, 2004. Conscious but severely injured, Beavers, 53, remained in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck he had been driving, after a head-on collision with another vehicle. Fire broke out in the pickup’s engine compartment and began to spread, and smoke filled the cab. Driving nearby, Hensley, 56, disabled coalminer, heard the accident and responded to the scene. After several attempts at opening both doors, Hensley pulled hard on the passenger door, and it gave way. He then leaned inside the pickup cab, grasped Beavers, and, although Beavers outweighed him, pulled him from the vehicle. He dragged Beavers off the road to safety. Beavers required hospitalization for treatment of his injuries, but he was not burned. Hensley also was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation. He fully recovered.
78597 – 8995
78597-8995