Teen heroes. (The Goodness of America).

On March 3, 2001 in Geneva, Ohio, Jefferey E. Finehout, 39, emerged from a flatbed truck when the vehicle, its engine still running, began rolling backward down a slight grade. Grasping the door handle with one hand and the steering wheel with the other, Finehout was dragged with his legs dangling beneath the truck.

High school student Oliver J. Wood, 17, was working in front of a store about 250 feet away on the same street when he noticed the runaway truck approaching at about 20 miles per hour. As it passed, the youth leaped over Finehout and into the cab, where he managed to press his hand on the brake pedal until the flatbed stopped.

Finehout suffered some skin abrasions, and Oliver sustained a minor knee injury, but they were otherwise unharmed. In March of this year, young Wood received a Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. The award is given to ...