Jean Patrick Policape rescued Joy V. Kora from burning, Skokie, Illinois, December 26, 2006. Kora, 54, lay unconscious on the floor of the living room in his one-story house after fire broke out in a bedroom and filled the structure with dense smoke. A neighbor, Policape, 44, systems engineer, was alerted to the fire and immediately responded to the scene. He entered the house through the front door and, below the smoke, which precluded visibility except for just above the floor, saw Kora about 12 feet into the room. Despite nearby flames that enveloped the bedroom and issued outside the structure to a point above it, Policape crawled to Kora. He grasped him by a leg and his torso and dragged him to the front door. There, another man helped take Kora to safety. Kora required extensive hospitalization for smoke inhalation and severe burns.
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