James Mills saved Virgie M. Peoples from being struck by a train, Concord, North Carolina, October 11, 1999. Ms. Peoples, 71, was in the driver’s seat of a car that, at a railroad crossing, became stuck on the track on which a passenger train was approaching at 65 m.p.h. From his vehicle nearby, Mills, 48, truck driver, saw Ms. Peoples attempting to exit the car. As the train bore down on the crossing, at only slightly diminished speed, Mills ran to the car, opened wide the driver’s door, and pulled Ms. Peoples out. He moved her off the track then cleared it himself just seconds before the train struck the car, demolishing it, and pushed it 1,000 feet down the track. Ms. Peoples sustained a bruise to her arm, from which she recovered.
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