Thomas A. Homerstone saved Jules Beresh from being killed by a train, Hamilton, Ontario, May 6, 1960. Beresh, 63, foundry worker, was stricken ill and fell diagonally across the rails of a railroad track on which a freight train was approaching at nearly 20 m.p.h. He tried to rise but was too weak to do so. Homerstone, 30, railroad brakeman, and two other crewmen on the train saw Beresh when the engine was within 300 feet of him. The engineer applied the brakes but shouted that he could not stop in time. From the forward platform Homerstone descended steps at the side of the engine and leaped onto a footpath of loose stones paralleling the track, where there was little clearance between it and a steep bank. The train, its speed gradually decreasing, then was within a 150 feet of Beresh. Running at full speed, Homerstone moved ahead of the engine and then veered from the path onto the roadbed, where he ran on the ties and ballast of loose stones. Two feet from Beresh, Homerstone stepped astride the rail into the path of the slowing engine, which was 12 feet behind him. He grasped the wrists of Beresh, who had his arms upraised, and pulled him almost erect. In quick sequence Homerstone pivoted, stepped back over the rail, and swung Beresh clear of the track except for one foot, which was brushed by the engine’s footboard. Homerstone and Beresh fall into a shallow ditch alongside the track as the train passed them and stopped 130 feet beyond.
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