Woman saves couple from burning house
By Caroline Judson

Elizabeth "Beth" Darlington receives the Carnegie Hero Fund Award. Photo by Mike Maddock

When Beth Darlington went to visit her sister, Ann Koob, in Hickory, North Carolina last year, she could not have imagined what a horrendous experience awaited her.

Darlington had gone to help her twin sister with her husband, William, who was ill and helpless. A week or so into the visit, Darlington heard a huge boom. She ran through the house when she heard her sister screaming. She saw flames leaping to the ceiling in the den where her brother-in-law was. She quickly called 911 and dashed outside the house to find another entrance to the room where William was.

Darlington found William lying on the floor on his back. Then she and her sister each took one of his arms and dragged him out of the house across a deck and down a ramp to get to the yard and away from the flames.

By this time the whole house was enveloped in flames. Ann raced to the front of the house to direct the ambulance to pick up her husband. He was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and burns and died 16 days later.

Darlington and her sister suffered minor burns. The Koob house was completely demolished. The sisters lived in a motel for months after the fire for which the exact cause of the fire was never determined.

The Pittsburg-based Carnegie Hero Fund has honored Darlington with their Carnegie Medal for Heroism. Darlington is a retired interior designer. She is the only woman out of 16 people receiving this award at this time. She will also receive a bronze medal and $4,000 for her bravery.

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie started this fund in 1904 after being inspired by rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission meets five times a year to choose heroes.

For information or to bring an act of heroism to the attention of the Commission contact: Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 428 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1640, Pittsburg,Pa 15219-1823.