Martin Lopez saved Kevin D. Cromer from burning, Cuero, Texas, August 5, 1987. Kevin, 10, was asleep in his family’s apartment when fire broke out in an adjacent room and filled Kevin’s bedroom with dense smoke. Lopez, 21, laborer, who lived nearby, ran to the apartment. After others had climbed through Kevin’s bedroom window in rescue attempts and were forced out by dense smoke, Lopez climbed through the window to locate Kevin, but, unable to breathe, he too was forced to exit. Catching his breath, Lopez re-entered the bedroom and, on his hands and knees, located Kevin on the floor about 10 feet from the window. He carried Kevin to the window and handed him to another man, then climbed back out the window to safety. Kevin was hospitalized three days for smoke inhalation, and he recovered.
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