Larry D. Sullivan, 30, locomotive engineer, saved Timothy P. Conrad, 2, from being struck by a train, Champaign, Illinois, December 15, 1966. Timothy wandered from his home and stood on a railroad track on which a freight train was approaching at 30 m.p.h. The engineer applied the brakes when the train was 600 feet from Timothy. Sullivan, who was in the cab of the locomotive, moved onto a walkway and, went 18 feet along it to the front of the engine, which was jerking due to the braking action. Descending three side steps, Sullivan grasped a handrailng across the front of the engine and moved onto a smooth steel footboard below it. There was some grease on the handrailing and the footboard. Timothy was standing alongside the rail at the opposite side of the track. Holding to the railing, Sullivan moved along the footboard, stepped around the coupling, and continued to the footboard at the other side of the engine, which then was within 50 feet of Timothy and still was jerking. Releasing one hand from the railing, Sullivan squatted on the footboard as the engine neared Timothy at a reduced speed of about 17 m.p.h. Sullivan swung his arm, struck Timothy a sharp blow on the back, and knocked him out of the path of the train, which stopped 350 feet beyond.
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