Keith Louis Putnam died after saving Layonee R. Phillips from being struck by a train, Hanahan, South Carolina, August 6, 1998. Ms. Phillips, 21, was unconscious in the driver’s seat of a car that, at night, had become stuck on a railroad track at a crossing. A train traveling at about 45 m.p.h. was approaching on the track. Keith, 15, student, was the passenger of another vehicle that approached the crossing. He immediately left that vehicle and ran to the stranded car. He grasped Ms. Phillips, pulled her from the car, and dragged her to safety. The train bearing down on the crossing, Keith returned to the car, looked inside, and turned away. The train then struck the car, which struck Keith, inflicting fatal injury. Ms. Phillips was treated at the hospital for minor injuries.
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