Michael Dewitt Puckett

Michael DeWitt Puckett helped to save Rex A. Lewis from suffocation, Moss Landing, California, October 19, 1984. In an attempt to save a co-worker, Lewis, 30, was lowered by rope into a power plant’s condensing unit, the atmosphere of which was found to be deficient in oxygen and to contain unsafe levels of other gases. He was overcome, then became snagged on the unit’s flooring when other employees attempted to pull him out. Puckett, 31, mechanic, climbed through a small hatch into the unit and freed Lewis, then helped lift him through the hatch to safety. Lewis was taken to a hospital, where he later regained consciousness; he recovered. Puckett experienced a delayed sickness which was caused by his exposure to the unit’s atmosphere, and he recovered.