Jerome F. Eisenman rescued Deborah L. Corbin from burning, Covington, Kentucky, April 2, 1963. Deborah, 2, and her four-year-old brother were alone in the upstairs apartment in a two-story frame dwelling when fire broke out. Eisenman, 32, telephone installer-repairman, noticed smoke and flames issuing from the apartment and saw Deborah appear briefly on a second-story porch where an open door led to the living roam. Entering the downstairs entrance hall, Eisenman opened the door of an enclosed stairway, which was afire. A falling section of the balustrade, which was aflame, struck his shoulder. The stairway door had closed behind him, but he was able to open it and, after telephoning firemen, emerged from the dwelling. He obtained a wooden ladder from his truck and used it to ascend to the porch. Flames were issuing through the door and the windows, and heat was intense. Through smoke which almost filled the living room, Eisenman saw Deborah lying on the floor inside the door. He crawled two feet into the room, reached three feet farther, and drew her to him. Her pajamas and hair had been completely burned away. Eisenman freed her from a folding chair in which she was entangled and with her in his arms rose within inches of flames covering the wall. He hurried onto the porch, where flames had set fire to the railing and the top of the ladder. As Eisenman descended the ladder with Deborah, flames issued 10 feet through the windows and the door. When firemen arrived a minute later the entire apartment was afire. The flames were extinguished, and firemen found the body of Deborah’s brother in a bedroom. Deborah was hospitalized two months for extensive burns. Eisenman had suffered burns on his hands, arms, and head. Both recovered.
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