Robert B. Gottschalk

Robert B. Gottschalk helped to save Aja D. Queen from burning, New Kent, Virginia, April 30, 2004. Queen, 25, remained in the driver’s seat of her car after an accident in which the vehicle left the highway, entered a wooded median, and caught fire in its engine area. Gottschalk, 60, psychiatrist, who had been driving behind Queen, witnessed the accident and stopped at the scene. He approached the burning car and, despite growing flames, leaned inside through the driver’s doorway and unfastened Queen’s safety belt. He then grasped Queen about the arms and pulled her from the vehicle. As Queen outweighed him and was otherwise immobilized by her injuries, Gottschalk remained with her until another motorist, who removed Queen’s children from the car, responded and helped take her to safety. Flames by then had spread throughout the inside of the vehicle and issued high above it. Queen was hospitalized for treatment of her injuries, but she was not burned. She recovered.