Jeffrey Johnson

Jeffrey Johnson helped to rescue Susan R. Leonard from burning, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, July 11, 2019. After a highway crash involving a semi-truck and several other vehicles, Leonard, 64, was pinned in the driver’s seat of her burning, heavily-damaged car. Interior flames surrounded Leonard, who released her seat belt but could not open her door. Leonard screamed for help. Seeing Leonard’s hands extended out her broken-out window opening, Johnson, 47, registered nurse, ran to the car, joining another man who had responded and could not open the driver’s door. Together, Johnson and the man reached through the driver’s-window opening, grasped Leonard’s arms, and pulled her out. With help from others, Johnson and the man carried Leonard farther from the car. Johnson tended to her until first responders arrived. Arriving firefighters extinguished the fire and fuel burning on the road near the car. Leonard suffered severe burns to her legs and arms and injuries to her hands.