John Phillip Goucher helped to rescue Gary S. Franklin from burning, Dublin, California, March 23, 1988. After an interstate highway accident in which his car overturned and caught fire, Franklin, 36, hanged upside down and aflame, restrained by his shoulder harness. Atop Franklin’s car was another car, the fuel tank of which had ruptured. At work nearby, Goucher, 34, mechanic, saw the accident and, with a co-worker, immediately ran to the scene. He crawled into a small space beneath the wreckage on the driver’s side of Franklin’s car, reached up into it, and patted out the flames on Franklin. While his co-worker then used a knife to cut Franklin’s shoulder harness and helped drag him away, Goucher climbed atop the burning wreckage to search for other victims. Franklin required hospitalization for two broken arms and second- and third-degree burns. Goucher sustained a minor burn to his right hand, and he recovered.
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