John E. Willefsky, 47, railroad conductor, saved Alfred T. Gaudette, 20, machinist, from being killed by a train, Torrington, Connecticut, December 16, 1937. Gaudette drove an automobile on a crossing onto a track on which a freight-train was backing at a speed of three m.p.h. The crossing was wet. Willefsky ran at an angle facing the head car 15 feet and stepped between the rails to the car, which then was 11 feet from the automobile. He turned the handle of an angle-cock that controlled the air-brakes, locking the wheels. Willefsky then fell in front of the train, which slid five feet after the wheels were locked and stopped six feet from the automobile. Willefsky’s right hand and his arm almost to the elbow were crushed by a wheel and later were amputated.
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