Medicine: No Escape

One of the survivors of Boston’s Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942 (492 dead) was a 21-year-old Coast Guardsman, Clifford A. Johnson. Third-degree burns covered 40% of his skin, second-degree burns 15% more. In three months, he was given 100 blood and plasma transfusions, while his weight dropped from 168 to 112 lbs. He got 18 skin grafts, became famous as the first victim of such severe burns to be saved by medical science. Last week, back in his native Midwest, Johnson was driving a truck near Jefferson City, Mo. He missed a turn, and his truck crashed into a ditch, caught fire. Clifford Johnson was burned to death.